.  SOCIETY 

rfc  .fycxfi/ 


' 


-" — - 


CONNECTED    WITH    THE 


WESTMINSTER  PRESBYTERIJN  HHIRCH. 


SAN  FKANCISCO. 


I 


*,  1.  EVERY  Scholar  that  can  read,  and  whose 
i  behaviour  in  the  Sabbath  School  is  good,  shall 
,  be  entitled  to  draw  books  from  the  Library. 
r  No  Scholar  shall  have  more  than  one  book  at 
r  the  same  time.  * 

i 

U.-h'  1TI'(',1)oolrsi!rct<)lH'llS('ll"-ilh-'-fat  care,  and  any 
1  S  i i  Y  •  ».»"'ril!"-aril.v  S1)il  «  "'i'lrc  a  book, 
,  j;!mll  be  deprived  «,l  ttc  privilege  ,.f  drawing  iinotl,,..' 

J   IroT.." '  """'  as   th°  teacher  'nay  t"'»k 

k 

;      :       Ho..k<  must  be  rctuniwl  to  the  teacher  every 
Suhbath  :  and.  on  no  account  can  a  book  be  retained 
|  from  the  Library  more  than  one  week. 

4.  Scholar*  who  come  in  Intr.  and  after  the  select- 
on  ot  books  ha-  hern  made  by  oll.cr  Scholars,  shall 
"t  d.-i.nv,,i  ,,i  the  privilege  of  drawing*  book  on  .1 

day,  uiilos  they  are  able  to  rive  their  teacher  a  -atis. 
factory  reasonfor  be  in-  tardy. 

5.  All  books  taken  bv  tl-  Scholars  sha! 
•o    their  teach. •!>.  ,n    •        ..spon-i. 

'""'  "turn  of  thai*.,  .,,  th.-ir  ,  4u  i,, 


7< 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


.JIMMY    IMI.N.          p.    7. 


JIMMY     DON; 


OR, 


JtfDY   AND    HER   BABY, 


MRS.    F.    B.    SMITH. 


PUBLISHED    BY 

WARREN    AND    BLAKESLEE, 
164  TRKMOXT  STREET  BOSTON. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1869,  by 

•\VARREN  AND  BLAKESLEK, 

In  the  Clerk's  OK;ce  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of 

Massachusetts. 


CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER    I. 

JUDY'S  HOME  AND    HOUSE-KEEPING,  .      s 

CHAPTER    II. 

JUDY'S   GREEN-HOUSE .24 

CHAPTER    III. 
JUDY'S   MOTHER 33 

CHAPTER    IV. 

DINNER  WITH   JUDY, 44 

CHAPTTR   V. 
JUDY'S   FIRST   LESSONS 53 

CHAPTER  VI. 
BLIND  BETTY, 66 


LIBRARY 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    VII. 
OVER  THE   OCEAN 76 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

JUDY'S   NEW   HOME,  .../...    94 

CHAPTER  IX. 

GODLINESS  WITH  CONTENTMENT,     .        .        .        .104 

CHAPTER  X. 
BLIND  BETTY'S  BLESSING, 113 

CHAPTER  XL 

JUDY  A  WOMAN,  124 


JIMMY    DON. 

CHAPTER  I. 

JUDY'S   HOME   AND   HOUSEKEEPING. 

T     SAW    a  little   girl   walking   in   the 
•*-    street   the    other   day,   and    drawing 
her  doll  in  a  tiny  carriage. 

She  was  fair-faced,  and  blue-eyed,  and 
golden-haired.  She  was  dressed  in  a 
blue  coat*  with  swan's  down  for  trimming, 
and  a  jaunty  little  white  hat  was  perched 
above  her  curls.  The  doll  was  of  wax, 
large  and  life-like,  and  had  just  such 
wrappings  as  a  real  baby  would  wear ; 
a  little  white  merino  cloak,  and  a  lace 


6  JIMMY  DON. 

hood,  and  a  beautiful  bright  afghan,  tuck- 
ing it  warmly  into  the  pretty  carriage. 

Judy  and  her  baby  were  not  like  this. 
I  must  tell  you  all  about  them,  —  you 
little  girls  that  have  fine  clothes,  and  a 
great  many  toys  to  amuse  you  ;  —  I  must 
tell  you  about  my  Judy  and  her  seemingly 
meager  life,  lest  you  should  wonder  a*t 
God,  and  dare  to  think  him  partial  in  his 
love  and  favor  towards  the  children  who 
call  him  "Father." 

I  know  you  will  laugh  at  the  picture 
of  my  pets  ;  but  I  look  at  it  with  tears 
in  my  eyes  ;  though  with  a  certain  joy  in 
my  heart,  which  the  poor  teach  me  to 
feel  oftener  than  the  rich. 

There  she  stands,  as  I  first  saw  her  in 
the  summer  time,  a  little  wee  figure  of  four 


JUDY'S  HOME  AtfD  HOUSEKEEPING.       1 

years'  stunted  growth,  by  the  door  of  a 
shanty  in  the  city  suburbs.  Her  scant 
calico  frock  reaches  just  below  her  knees. 
Her  little  legs  and  feet  are  brown  and 
bare.  There  is  no  covering  upon  neck 
or  arms,  and  the  only  protection  to  her 
head  is  a  mass  of  brown  hair  that  makes 
a  sort  of  crown,  so  short  and  thick  is  it. 
You  would  scarcely  turn  out  of  your  way 
to  look  at  this  little  creature  if  she  were 
really  to  be  near  you  in  your  daily  walks, 
would  you  ? 

Perhaps  I  should  not  have  done  so,  but 
for  the  loving  notes  that  greeted  my  ear, 

and  for  the  strange   thing  in   the   child's 

«• 
arms. 

"  Baby  mustn't  cwy,"  she  said,  hugging 
the  object  of  her  love  closer  to  her  breast, 
"  Mover  (mother)  will  carry  her  little  one 


8  JIMMY  DON. 

with  her  wherever  she  goes,  nobody  shall 
touch  mover's  Jimmy  Don  to  hurt  it,  so 
don't  cry  any  more." 

There  was  something  so  tender  in  the 
child's  voice,  as  if  her  very  heart  was  in 
the  words  of  soothing  that  she  spoke,  that 
I  could  not  help  going  toward  her  and  say- 
ing, "  Let  me  see  your  dolly." 

She  held  it  out  with  a  sort  of  pride, 
but  drew  it  back  as  if  hurt,  when  I  smiled. 

It  was  a  small  demijohn,  with  the  cork 
marked  with  eyes,  nose  and  mouth,  and 
around  the  neck  was  pinned  a  bit  of 
calico  folded  like  a  shawl.  This  was 
Judy's  baby ;  the  little  darling  that  made 
her  soul  joyful  all  the  day,  and  stirred  her 
lips  to  sing  and  coo  and  speak  sweet, 
gentle  words  of  caressing.  It  was  wrong 
in  me  to  laugh.  It  was  as  if  I  had  made 


JUDY'S  HOME  AND  HOUSEKEEPING.      9 

light  of  some  distorted  child,  whose 
mother  forgets  all  but  that  God  has  given 
it  to  her  for  a  comfort  and  blessing.  I  was 
sorry  in  a  minute,  and  hastened  to  make 
peace  with  the  little  wounded  matron. 

"  I  will  make  a  bonnet  of  white  and 
pink  worsted  for  your  baby,"  I  said,  "  and 
a  little  pink  frock  ;  would  you  like  that  ?  " 

"  But  it's  a  boy,  ma'am,  and  must  have  a 
hat,  my  Jimmy  Don,"  she  answered,  her 
eyes  beaming  with  joy. 

"Well  a  hat  it  shall  be  then,  with  a 
feather  in  it,"  I  said,  "  but  the  frock  will 
be  all  right,  for  boy-babies  and  girl-babies 
alike  wear  long  dresses." 

The  child  drew  very  near  to  me,  and 
laid  her  brown  cheek  upon  my  hand. '  "  I 
love  you,"  she  exclaimed,  with  a  trust 
that  was  sweet  to  receive.  One  has  only 


10  JIMMY  DON. 

need  to  give  some  attention  to  a  baby,  in 
order  to  win  the  mother. 

"  I  must  show  you  where  Jimmy  Don 
and  I  play,"  added  the  little  girl,  after  a 
moment's  silence. 

It  is  a  whim  of  mine  to  get  away  from 
the  city's  thoroughfare,  where  only  the 
surface  of  life  is  seen,  and  to  go  out  where 
the  poor  live,  and  where  one  can  learn  the 
secrets  of  heart  and  home,  as  revealed 
through  the  little  children  who  have  not 
yet  come  to  outside  burtlens  and  cares, 
but  wno  repeat,  in  their  mimic  way,  the 
scenes  that  are  enacted  beneath  the  family 
roof. 

Not  far  from  the  heart  of  the  city  where 
I  live,  just  at  the  end  of  a  horse-car  route, 
there  is  plenty  of  space  for  such  lessons 
as  I  love  to  learn  by  observation. 


JUDY'S  HOME  AND  HOUSEKEEPING.    11 

There  are , no  compact  rows  of  brick  and 
stone  houses,  but  here  and  there,  few 
and  far  between,  a  large  mansion  with 
beautiful  grounds,  and  now  and  then,  a 
little  way  removed,  a  poor  hut  that  is  left 
by  sufferance,  until  the  owner  of  the  land 
shajl  see  that  the  market  is  ripe  for  a 
good  sale,  when  he  will  sweep  away  the 
shanty  as  he  would  stubble  from  the 
earth. 

Such  a  shanty  was  Judy's  home,  —  built 
flat  upon  the  green  sward,  without  a  cellar, 
and  with  no  attempt  at  any  thing'  but  a 
simple  shelter  from  the  summer's  heat 
and  rains,  and  from  the  winter's  frost  and 
snow. 

As  she  stood  there  beside  the  door, 
with  her  queer  baby  in  her  arms,  and  the 
shower  of  dandelions  upon  the  grass,  she 


12  JIMMY  DON. 

felt  richer  than  the  great  lawyer  who 
paced  the  gallery  of  the  grand  house  a 
stone's  throw  off,  knitting  his  brow  be- 
cause, out  of  his  two  millions  of  money, 
he  had  lost  a  paltry  thousand  by  some 
unsuccessful  speculation. 

When  she  had  taken  my  hand  and  gone 
a  few  steps,  she  dropped  it  suddenly,  and 
stopped  to  pick  me  a  little  bouquet  from 
her  unfenced  garden. 

It  was  such  a  pretty  hospitality  !  I 
could  see  a  dear,  gentle  heart  in  the  act. 
A  flower  gracefully  given,  —  it  costs  but 
a  trifle  ; .  and  yet  it  is  worth  so  much  ! 

Judy  was  as  happy  as  could  be,  because 
I  was  pleased  with  the  gift,  and  pinned 
it  upon  my  breast.  I  would  not  have 
wounded  her  sweet  faith  and  trust  by 
throwing  it  carelessly  away,  for  anything. 


JUDY'S  HOME  AND  HOUSEKEEPING.    13 

My  own  little  heart  was  too  much  hurt, 
one  day  .in  my  childhood,  by  a  good,  but 
thoughtless  minister.  I  regarded  him  with 
the  utmost  reverence,  —  his  office  seemed 
to  me  to  lift  him  so  far  above  other  men, 
and  his  work  of  looking  after  dying  souls 
was  so  holy.  He  had  come  on  a  visit  to 
my  grandmother,  and  I  ran  with  delight 
to  pluck  for  him  two  last  rare  buds  from 

a  monthly  rose-bush.     He  took  them  with- 

. 
out  a  word  of  thanks,  and  a  few  mfnutes 

after,  I  found  them  lying  upon  the  shelf 
to  wither  forgotte'n,  —  but  I  remembered, 
and  was  wounded.  Children  receive  such 
lasting  impressions  !  We  who  ha\ge  grown 
old  must  be  governed  by  that  thought, 
in  all  our  dealings  with  them.  Our  Lord 
Jesus  knew  the  worth  of  this  precept, 


14  JIMMY  DON. 

"Take  heed  that  ye  offend  not  one  of 
these  little  ones." 

"  How  much  gold,  what  a  handful,  you 
have   given  me  ! "     I  said  to  Judy,  as  the 
bright  flowers  showed  conspicuously  upon 
1  my  black  shawl.    , 

She  laughed  a  soft,  silvery  laugh,  and 
looked  straight  into  my  eyes  with  hers,  so 
blue  and  sunny.  "  God  gives  me  ever 

and  ever  and   ever  so  much ;  see  ! "   she 

jflHL 
said,  waving   her  little   palm    out   toward 

the  thickly  covered  sward,  —  "  Jimmy  and 
I  buy  rings  with  vis  money  ;  vey  take  it  at 
our  store." 

I  did  not  quite  understand  her  just 
then ;  but  she  made  it  all  plain  to  me 
afterward. 

She   trudged   on   by   my   side,  holding 


JUDY'S  HOME  AND  HOUSEKEEPING.   15 

my  finger,  and  guiding  me  as  we  went 
away  from  the  small,  but  past  the  big 
mansion,  to  a  vacant  lot,  in  which  a  cellar 
for  a  house  had  been  dug  and  for  some 

* 

reason  deserted  after  the  foundation  had 
begun  to  be  laid. 

There  were  steps  leading  down,  and 
when  we  had  descended  we  were  quite 
secure  from  observation,  as  it  was  back 

from  the^street,  in  the  middle  of  the  lot, 

IH^_ 
and  very  deep.     It  must  have  been  left 

desolate  for  a  year  or  more,  as  some  rub- 
bish from  the  premises  near  had  accumu- 
lated in  one  corner,  and  grass  was  growing 
in  certain  spots,  and  an  ailanthus  had 
shot  up  two  feet  high  out  of  the  pile  of 
refuse  dirt,  and  stood  floating  like  a  flag 
of  triumph  above  the  ramparts.  Judy 


16  JIMMY  DON. 

pointed  to  it  with  rapture.  "  My  little 
tee ! "  she  said  ;  "  I  lay  Jimmy  Don  under 
it  to  west  sometimes,  when  the  sun  is 
hot." 

The  little  girl  had  contrived  to  move 
some  heavy  stones,  and  form  a  circle  with 
a  stone  in  the  center  for  a  seat,  and  here 
she  had  her  mimic  home. 

0 

It  was  a  strange  admixture  of  the  poor 

place  that  was  perfectly  familiar  to  her, 

-» 
and  of  the  great  house,  into  whicteshe  had 

an  occasional  peep  when  her  mother  was 
called  upon  to  do  any  work  in  the  law- 
yer's mansion. 

It  showed  me  how  the  little  mind  and 
heart  were  reaching  out  for  things  higher 
and  better,  and  more  beautiful  than  the 
cramped,  gloomy  hovel  could  give,  and 


JUDY'S  HOME  AND  HOUSEKEEPING.   17 

how  surely  as  the  child  grew  in  years, 
would  these  yearnings  lead  her  to  strug- 
gle for  the  greatest  possible  good. 

"  Vis  is  my  kitchen,"  she  said,  showing 
me  a  nook  that  she  had  hemmed  in  with 
rough  pieces  of  board.  "  Jimmy  and  I  eat 
on  vis  table,  and  I  wash  his  cloves  in  vis 
tub,  and  here,  in  vis  box  I  keep  my  coal 
and  kindling,  and  here  is  my  cupboard 
wiv  my  dishes  in  it." 

She  had  gathered  in  some  pieces  of 
coal  and  chips,  and  had  little  bits  of  blue 
and  white  pottery  set  up  in  her  pantry. 
Outside  the  circle  were  two  sticks  stuck 
in  the  ground,  with  a  line  drawn  across, 
and  a  blue  rag  fluttering,  —  "Jimmy's 
shirt  drying,"  Judy  informed  me. 

"  I  make  bone  soup,  twice  a  week,"  said 
the  little  housewife,  —  "vey  sell  me  ve 
a 


18  JIMMY  DON. 

bones  cheap  at  market,  and  I  boil  em  up 
in  vis  iron  pot.  I'm  going  now  to  buy 
some  bones,  will  you  go  wiv  me  ?  I  have 
to  take  Jimmy  Don,  cos  I'm  afraid  he'll 
cwy  if  I  leave  him  alone." 

The  little  creature  was  so  earnest  in 
her  housekeeping,  and  seemed  to  regard 
me  so  really  as  a  guest  and  not  as  a 
stranger,  that  it  amused  and  interested 
me  to  enter  into  all  her 


. 
"I  must  get  ve  money  firstjWshe   said, 

running  up  the  steps  with  her  baby  on 
her  bosom,  and  coming  back  in  a  minute 
with  "two  bits  of  yellow  gold"  as  she 
called  the  dandelions. 

"  I'll  sit  here  on  this  perch  and  watch 
you  while  you  play,"  said  I,  choosing  a 
short  board  seat  that  rested  upon  two 
stones. 


JUDY'S  HOME  AND  HOUSEKEEPING.   19 

"  Oh,  vats  my  sofa,  like  Squire  Bow- 
en's  ! "  she  exclaimed.  "  Vis  is  my  parlor 
wiv  ve  best .  fings  in  it.  My  sofa's  gween 
velvet,  and  don't  you  see  ve  pitty  cushion, 
all  wed,  and  yellow,  and  blue,  wiv  a  little 
bird,  and  flowers  all  over  it ! " 

Of  course  I  pretended,  though  it  re- 
quired the  child's  vivid  imagination  to 
make  any  thing  very  soft  or  beautiful  out 
of  the  rough  things  around  me. 

She  was  not  contented,  however,  to  let 
me  rest,  and  watch  her  play  ;  children 
want  us  to  enter  with  a  zest  into  what 
concerns  them.  A  spectator  to  their 
sports  is  not  to  their  taste ;  we  must 
become,  like  them,  little  earnest  actors. 

So  I  went  to  market  with  Judy  and 
the  baby,  and  we  paid  the  golden  coins 
for  our  bones,  and  brought  them  home  in 


20  JIMMY  DON. 

a  big  basket,  with  a  few  carrots  and  pota- 
toes and  onions  surrounding,  and  a  small 
red  pepper,  and  a  bunch  of  sweet  herbs 
on  top.  Judy  did  the  purchasing,  and 
knew  all  the  ingredients  as  well  as  any 
old  experienced  cook.  "  I've  got  salt,  at 
home,"  she  said,  "and  flour  for  ve 
thick'ning,  and  we'll  toast  some  bread  to 
put  in  ve  tureen,  when  we  pour  out  the 
soup.  I  can't  stop  to  make  dumplins  vis 
mornin',  cos  Jimmy  Don's  cross.  I  guess 
his  little  stomach  aches.  I  must  give 
him  some  catnip  tea.  Vat's  what  mover 
used  to  give  my  little  brover.  He's  my 
little  brover  still ;  but  he  doesn't  live  any 
more  at  my  house.  He's  gone,  mover 
says,  to  be  wiv  God  and  ve  angels. 

Wouldn't  you  like  to  go  vere  ?    Miss 

what's  your  name  ?  " 


JUDY'S  HOME  AND  HOUSEKEEPING.  21 

The  strange  child  had  stopped  stirring 
the  soup  with  her  large  wooden  spoon,  and 
had  come  up  to  me,  and  laid  her  hand 
upon  my  knee,  while  her  pretty  blue  eyes 
searched  my  face.  This  was  the  first 
moment  that  she  had  seemed  to  care  to 
know  who  I  was.  She  had  taken  me  upon 
trust  altogether,  and  had  confided  to  me 
that  she  was  little  Judy  Turner,  and  that 
the  hut  among  the  dandelions  was  where 
she  slept  at  night  with  "  mover,"  but  that 
all  day  long  she  and  Jimmy  kept  house 
together  in  their  own  home,  in  the  old 
cellar,  and  had  such  good  times ! 

She  said,  "  Miss  Karlen,  Miss  Karlen," 
over  and  over  again,  to  fix  my  name  in  her 
little  mind,  and  then  repeated  her  ques- 
tion, "  Wouldn't  you  like  to  go  up  vere  to 
be  wiv  God  and  ve  angels,  and  my  baby 


22  JIMMY  DON. 

brover  ?  Ve  dark  never  comes  vere,  and 
tis  a  great  deal  brighter  and  pittier  van  it 
is  over  to  squire  Bowen's  ? " 

The  child  seemed  satisfied  when  I  an- 
swered, "  I'm  trying  to  get  to  that  beauti- 
ful place,  dear  little  Judy.  I  do  wish  very 
miich  to  go  there,  though  I  do  not  mind 
the  dark  here,  for  God  is  with  us  in  the 
night  as  well  as  in  the  day,  and  will  make 
it  all  bright  and  happy  if  we  think  of 
him." 

She  went  back  to  her  soup  making,  and 
when  it  was  finished,  ladled  out  a  dish  for 
me,  and  helped  herself,  and  fed  Jimmy 
with  a  teaspoon,  and  afterward  washed 
the  dishes,  and  put  them  away  in  the  cup- 
board, and  swept  the  kitchen  floor,  and 
made  herself  tidy  for  the  afternoon. 
Such  scrubbing  of  face  and  hands,  and 


JUDY'S  HOME  AND  HOUSEKEEPING.   23 

brushing  of  the  brown  hair !  "  Vis  frock 
must  do  for  to-day,"  she  said,  smoothing 
down  the  breadths  with  her  hands.  •  "  I'll 
put  on  my  white  apron,  and  sit  down  wiv 
my  sewin' ;  I've  a  dress  to  make  for  Jim- 
my, poor  little  fellow  !  He'll  be  wagged  if 
I  dont  hurry  about  it." 

I  could  tell  that  her  mother  was  a  neat, 
careful  woman  just  as  well  as  if  I  had  seen 
her,  and  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
her  daily  routine  and  habits  ;  and  I  felt 
that  so  far  as  the  child's  training  was  con- 
cerned, the  woman  had  done  her  very  best, 
amid  her  poverty,  to  lift  the  little  creature 
up  and  keep  her  out  of  the  mire.  It  gave 
me  a  strong  desire  to  go  to  her,  and  help 
her,  in  her  effort  to  make  of  Judy's  social 
position  something  better  than  she  had 
herself  been  able  to  attain. 


CHAPTER   II. 

JUDY'S    GREENHOUSE. 

THE  little  girl  forgot  her  kitchen  and 
her  housework  now,  and  began  to 
play  the  lady.     "  Wouldn't  you  like  to  see 
my    flowers  ? "    she    said,  —  "  my    gween 
house  ? " 

It  was  wonderful  how  she  had  picked  up 
ideas  of  taste  and  beauty.  There  were 
two  or  three  ledges  in  the  stone  work, 
where  a  block  had  loosened  here  and 
there  and  fallen,  or  had  been  pried  out, 
and  here  the  child  had  actually  placed  pots 
of  wild  flowers.  They  had  given  the  pots  at 
the  great  mansion,  and  she  had  filled  them 


JUDY'S  GREENHOUSE.  25 

from  the  road-side,  with  whatever  she 
could  find  that  pleased  her  eye.  Chick- 
weed,  and  mullein,  and  pepper-grass,  and 
the  little  pinkish  gray  "  pussies "  that 
children  .love  so  well  to  brush  against  their 
cheeks,  and  cowslips,  and  a  tall  white 
daisy. 

It  was  a  singular  collection,  »but  I 
doubt  very  much  if  ever  the  rarest  con- 
servatory gave  more  pleasure  to  its  owner, 
than  did  Judy's  "  gweenhouse "  to  the 
little  brown  maiden  who  stood  by  my  side, 
pointing  proudly  to  her  treasures. 

"  I  bring  my  tin  pail  full  of  water  every 
day,  vey  are  such  firsty  fings  ;  vey  drink 
it  all  up,  and  it  makes  em  grow." 

The  child  was  delighted  when  I  told  her 
something  about  the  plants,  —  how  they 
have  to  feed  upon  the  air,  and  the  sunlight, 


26  JIMMY  DON. 

and  the  moisture,  in  order  to  keep  life  in 
them,  just  as  much  as  she  had  to  eat,  and 
drink,  and  breathe  the  sweet  pure  atmos- 
phere, if  she  would  not  die.  Her  blue 
eyes  opened  wider  upon  me  with  an  ear- 
nest wonder,  as  I  explained  to  her  how  the 
roots  take  the  moisture  from  the  earth,  and 
make  it  into  sap,  and  send  it  up  through 
the  stalk,  and  abroad  over  the  leaves  ;  and 
how  the  sap  is  changed  by  the  light  and 
air,  and  sent  back  again  with  fresh  vigor 
to  nourish  the  plant,  just  as  the  blood 
courses  through  our  bodies,  to  the  lungs, 
and  is  purified  by  the  air,  and  returned  by 
way  of  the  heart  to  all  parts  of  our  frame. 
Of  course  I  had  to  use  very  simple  lan- 
guage ;  but  children  are  quick  to  under- 
stand when  they  are  taught  by  objects 
that  impress,  and  I  was  very  sure  little 


JUDY'S  GREENHOUSE.  27 

Judy  would  never  forget  the  "  leaf  lungs  " 
of  her  pretty  plants,  that  were  so  impor- 
tant to  the  life  of  the  vegetable,  any  more 
than  she  would  the  lungs  in  her  chest, 
through  which  she  drank  in  God's  blessed 
air. 

"  You  see  vat  great  white  daisy  ?  "  she 
said.  "  Well  I  love  it  best  of  all  my  flow- 
ers. I  bwought  it  from  ve  gween  bed 
where  vey  laid  my  little  brover's  body, 
when  his  soul  went  away  to  God.  Ve 
daisies  stood  all  about  in  ve  graveyard, 
bending  ver  heads  down  as  if  vey  were 
sorry  for  mover  and  me  cos  we  had  to 

• 

leave  ve  baby  and  come  home  wivout  him, 
and  I  took  vis  one  away  wiv  me." 

"  It  can  tell  you  a  beautiful  story  about 
the  dear  little  brother,  if  you  will  let  it,"  I 
said. 


28  JIMMY  DON. 

Judy  asked,   "What?" 

Children  are  always  ready  for  st6ries, 
and  grown  people  who  have  to  deal  with 
them  should  have  heart  and  mind  rich 
with  such  beautiful  narrations  as  will 
profit,  while  they  amuse. 

The  little  girl  sat  down  by  me  on  the 
"  gween  velvet  sofa,"  that  was  like  squire 
Bowen's. 

"  You  can  lean  on  ve  pitty  cushion,  if 
you're  tired,"  said  she ;  "  'twon't  hurt  ve 
bird." 

"  Now  tell  me,"  she  added,  as  we  were 
nicely  and  comfortably  settled. 

"  Make  believe  I  am  the  daisy  speak- 
ing," I  said.  "  Now  see  how  I  stand  up 
here,  so  bright  and  lovely,  with  my  pure 
white  dress,  and  my  golden  crown  ! " 

"Yes,"  answered  the  little  creature,  as 


JUDY'S  GREENHOUSE.  29 

if  I  were  really  the  flower,  and  were 
speaking  to  her,  and  expecting  a  re- 
sponse. 

"Well,  once  I  lay  down  in  the  brown 
earth,  quite  under  the  sod,  and  people 
walked  about  just  where  I  was,  and  imag- 
ined what  was  to  be  by  and  by,  when  the 
glad  spring  time  would  open,  and  the  frost 
and  snow  would  vanish,  and  the  sun  would 
quicken  to  life  all  the  seeds  that  were  in 
the  dark  ground.  But  they  always  forgot, 
while  the  winter  was  with  them,  how  very 
lovely  this  awakening  would  be.  They 
would  grumble  over  the  chilling  weather, 
and  wish  there  was  no  such  thing  as  the 
season  of  dearth  and  snow,  and  say  to 
themselves,  "How  long  it  seems  to  the 
summer  1  How  long  it  seems  to  the  sum- 
mer!" 


30  JIMMY  DON. 

Meanwhile,  God  was  caring  for  me  in 
my  dark,  deep  bed.  My  life  was  hidden 
from  the  world.  The  people  said,  "The 
daisy  is  dead."  They  were  mistaken.  In 
our  heavenly  Father's  good  time  the  ice- 
bands  were  broken  from  the  earth,  and 
the  warm  breath  of  the  sun  came  down 
into  the  deep  place  where  I  lay,  and  I 
heard  a  voice  saying,  "  Awake  ;  arise  ! " 

Then  I  had  power  given  me  to  push  up 
green  sprouts  through  the  mold  and  to 
catch  the  beautiful  light  and  the  rain- 
drops, and  I  grew  and  grew,  and  took  upon 
me  such  glory  that  a  dear  little  girl 
wanted  me  in  her  own  home,  to  dwell  with 
her,  and  she  took  me  away  from  the  place 
of  the  dead,  and  put  me  where  her  loving 
eyes  can  ever  rest  upon  me,  and  we  are 
oh,  so  happy  !  so  happy  !  " 


JUDY'S  GREENHOUSE.  31 

"  Vat  is  me,"  said  Judy.  "  I  like  vat  ; 
but  about  little  brover  ?  " 

"  Yes  I'm  coming  to  it ;  I  did  not 
forget.  Like  the  daisy,  he,  too,  is  resting 
in  the  deep  earth,  but  people  say  wrongly 
'  He  is  dead.'  God  holds  his  life  in  his 
hand,  and  by  and  by,  when  the  winter  of 
this  world  is  broken  up,  and  the  bright- 
ness of  the  eternal  day  shines  in  upon  the 
burial-ground,  the  little  body  will  spring 
up  with  renewed  powers ;  and  God  will 
take  it  away  from  the  place  of  death  to 
be  for  ever  with  him,  in  his  glorious  home, 
where  it  shall  have  a  pure  white  robe,  and 
a  beautiful  crown  of  gold,  and  shall  be  so 
happy ;  oh,  so  happy !  We  must  not  be 
impatient  for  the  winter  of  the  grave  to 
be  gone.  We  must  not  murmur  while  our 
beloved  ones  lie  resting  in  the  ground, 


32  JIMMY  DON. 

and  say  to  ourselves,  '  I  wish  there  was 
np  such  thing  as  death ;  how  long  is  the 
resurrection  in  coming ! '  We  must  re- 
member that  God  watches  over  little 
sleeping  brother  in  the  graveyard,  and 
that  we  shall  surely  some  day  hear  his 
voice  saying,  '  Awake  ;  arise ! '  and  that 
then  we  shall  be  for  ever  with  our  darling, 
and  with  God." 

"  Vat's  a  pitty  story ;  thank  you,"  said 
the  child,  "  I  like  stories  ;  tell  me  anover, 
please." 

" I  must  go  home  now,"  I  said  ;  "but  if 
God  permits,  I  will  come  again  soon  to 
keep  house  with  you,  little  Judy,  in  your 
green  place.  I  believe  I'm  almost  a  child 
again  myself,  I've  had  such  a  good  time 
here  with  you  and  Jimmy  Don.  Take 
care  of  the  little  fellow ;  I  should  feel  sad 


JUDY'S  GREENHOUSE.  33 

enough  if  any  thing  should  happen  to  him 
before  I  shall  see  him  again." 

I  thought  only  of  the  chance  that  the 
demijohn  might  be  broken,  but  Judy,  true 
to  her  motherly  nature,  said,  "  He's  had 
ve  measles  and  ve  scarlet  fever.  I  hope 
he  won't  get  sick  any  more." 

She  hugged  him  closer  to  her  heart,  as 
if  to  ward  off  the  very  possibility  of  any 
evil,  and  trotted  along  beside  me  until  I 
reached  the  car-route. 

I  was  really  sorry  to  say  good-bye, 
the  little  creature  had  taken  such  hold  of 
my  heart.  "  I  will  try  and  come  to  see 
your  mother  in  a  few  days,  dear  little 
Judy,"  I  said  ;  "  don't  forget  me." 

Forget  me !  Her  eyes  strained  after 
me  until  the  car  was  out  of  sight,  and  I 
could  hear  the  earnest  voice  saying, 

3 


34  JIMMY  DON. 

"  Come  very  soon  again,  Miss  Karlen,  do 
come  very  soon  again." 


CHAPTER    III. 

JUDY'S  MOTHER. 

A  WEEK  and  more  passed  away, 
before  I  could  fulfill  my  promise  to 
little  Judy.  She  was  in  my  mind  all  the 
time,  and  my  fingers  were  busy  for  her. 
I  crocheted  a  tiny  hat  of  scarlet  and 
white  worsted  for  her  baby-boy,  and  stuck 
a  mite  of  a  scarlet  feather  in  it,  and  made 
a  long  red  frock  to  correspond.  I  put 
sleeves  to  the  dress,  though  Jimmy  Don 
had  no  arms,  and  I  took  a  childish  delight 
in  stuffing  them,  that  they  might  better 
represent  life.  The  hours  flew  on  leaden 
wings,  so  eager  was  I  to  go  to  my  new 


36  JIMMY  DON. 

friendj  and    to  see   her   sunny  blue   eyes 
dance  with  joy  for  these  added  treasures. 

I  was  visiting  a  rich  relative,  whose 
children  had  such  quantities  of  expensive 
toys  that  they  were  satiated  with  them, 
and  turned  away  from  the  most  perfect 
and  costly,  to  some  rough  thing  that  their 
own  brains  had  invented,  and  their  own 
hands  made. 

I  was  weary  of  nursery  quarrels  over 
trifles  light  as  air,  which  would  have  had 
no  place  if  the  little  lives  were  not  tor- 
mented by  the  constant  presence  and 
watchfulness  of  two  maid-servants,  who 
anticipated  every  wish  and  thought  of 
the  children,  and  took  from  them  all  self- 
reliance. 

I  had  partly  decided  to  buy  a  large,  fine 
doll  for  Judy,  but  my  experience  taught 


JUDY'S  MOTHER.  37 

me  to  wait  a  little  while,  and  not  to  thrust 
too  many  gifts  upon  her,  lest  I  should 
spoil  her  beautiful  world,  that  was  to  her 
all  the  dearer  because  it  was  the  work  of 
her  own  creation  ;  so  I  let  the  new  doll 
go  for  awhile,  and  contented  myself  with 
the  thought  of  helping  the  little  child 
when  she  could  not  walk  alone.  I  was 
fully  resolved  not  to  tie  hands  and  feet, 
and  put  sickly  sweets  into  her  mouth,  as 
was  the  case  with  my  poor,  rich,  little  rela- 
tives. 

I  made  a  small  paste-board  trunk,  with 
a  lid  and  a  hasp,  and  packed  it  with  Jim- 
my Don's  new  dress  and  hat,  and  set  out 
one  fine  day  on  my  journey,  with  as  much 
glee  as  if  I  were  going  across  the  water 
to  see  the  wonderful  things  that  my  eyes 
longed  for.  It  is  such  happiness  to  know 


38  JIMMY  DON. 

that  you  have  pleasure  in  store  for  others  ; 
surely  one  feels  the  blessedness  of  giving, 
though  only  a  cup  of  cold  water ! 

Judy  saw  me  afar  off,  for  she  sat  in  the 
shanty-door  sewing  two  bits  of  calico 
together.  She  gave  one  bound  toward  me, 
and  covered  my  hand  with  warm  kisses. 

"  I  fought  you  were  never  coming  any 
more,"  she  said.  "  Poor  Jimmy  and  I  are 
tired  of  watching ;  the  little  fellow's  fast 
asleep  now,  but  mover's  here  and  will 
be  so  glad  ! " 

A  tidy-looking  woman,  hearing  our 
voices,  came  to  welcome  me  to  what  she 
called  her  "  poor  place,"  but  one  loses  the 
sense  of  poverty  when  there  is  such  per- 
fect neatness  as  every  where  appeared  in 
Mrs.  Turner's  home.  The  bare  floor  was 
as  white  as  soap  and  sand  could  make  it, 


JUDY'S  MOTHER.  39 

and  a  smell  of  new  lime  told  me  that  the 
walls  had  just  been  re- washed. 

The  table,  set  for  dinner,  had  a  pure 

cotton  cloth  upon  it,  and  a  plate  of  bread 

» 
at  one  end,  and  a  covered  tureen  in  the 

middle.  From  an  iron  pot  over  the  stove 
in  the  corner  there  issued  a  savory  smell, 
and  I  felt  certain  that  this  was  the  famous 
soup  that  Judy  had  imitated  in  her  own 
small  way. 

The  woman  was  not  at  all  fluttered. 
She  was  in  her  palace,  and  carried  herself 
like  a  princess.  I  think  she  felt  that  her 
Father  was  a  great  King,  and  that  despite 
her  distance  from  his  house  and  court, 
and  her  apparent  lowliness,  the  thought 
of  the  dignity  of  her  royal  birth,  and  of 
the  certainty  that  the  King  would  some 
day  call  her  to  his  immediate  presence, 


40  JIMMY  DON. 

gave  her  a  self-possession  that  others  who 
have  not  this  consciousness  can  not  com- 
mand. 

You  children  will  better  understand  me 
when  I  say  that  she  was  the  child  of  God, 
and  saw  always  near  her  the  Divine  Face, 
and  so  was  never  abashed  by  the  coming 
of  any  mortal,  though  she  was  gentle,  and 
meek,  and  courteous.  She  had  a  fresh, 
wholesome  face,  that  showed  her  clean 
soul  the  moment  you  looked  at  her.  It 
is  a  strong  bond  when  I  can  take  a  hand 
like  hers,  and  feel  that  we  can  kneel  down 
together  and  say,  "  Our  Father." 

"  I  need  not  ask  your  name,"  said  she, 
"for  Judy  has  said  almost  nothing  else 
since  she  met  you.  It  was  very  kind  of 
you  to  be  so  indulgent  to  her  childish 
whims." 


JUDY'S  MOTHER.  41 

"The  kindness  was  to  me,"  I  replied. 
"  Little  people  do  us  who  are  growing  old 
great  good,  when  they  make  us  forget 
every  thing  else  to  be  children  again.  I 
don't  know  when  I  have  been  happier 
than  with  Judy  and  her  baby,  in  the  little 
play-time  that  we  had  together.  I  only 
hope  we  shall  renew  the  pleasure  often." 

"  The  child  is  alone  in  the  world  ;  no 
little  companions,"  she  said.  "  It  is  better 
so  than  that  she  should  learn  evil  ways  ; 
but  it  makes  her  an  odd  little  creature  to 
live  so  much  with  her  own  thoughts." 

"  She  seems  to  have  company  enough 
in  Jimmy  Don,"  I  replied  ;  "  I  love  to  see 
her  motherly  tenderness  toward  that  sin- 
gular baby." 

"  You  wouldn't  wonder  that  she  clings 
so  to  it,  if  you  could  know  that  it  brought 


42  JIMMY  DON. 

life  to  her,  poor  little  thing ! "  said  the 
woman.  "  She  was  six  months  old,  and 
wearing  away  because  my  milk  did  not 
agree  with  her.  For  some  time  I  did  not 
know  what  was  the  matter.  It  was  pitiful 
to  see  her  getting  thinner  and  thinner, 
and  weaker  and  weaker,  day  after  day,  until 
she  could  scarcely  hold  up  her  head  at  all. 
Then  the  doctor  "came,  and  told  me  to 
change  her  food,  and  I  let  her  take  it  from 
this  little  demijohn,  because  she  had  it  as 
a  play-thing,  and  could  hold  by  the  handle 
as  she  drank ;  and  so  she  became  attached 
to  it.  She  used  to  go  to  sleep  rocking  it, 
and  hugging  it  to  her  breast,  as  she  lay 
rocking  upon  mine ;  and  when  she  got 
older  I  marked  the  eyes  and  nose  and 
mouth  upon  it,  to  please  her,  and  make  it 
seem  more  like  a  human  being,  and  now 


JUDY'S  MOTHER.  43 

I  think  it  would  nearly  break  her  heart  to 
part  with  it." 

I  was  glad  there  were  no  other  associa- 
tions than  those  of  sweet,  pure,  life-giving 
milk  connected  with  the  little  demijohn. 
I  knew  that  in  many  a  lowly  home,  the 
miseries  of  children  had  come  through 
these  straw-covered  channels ;  and  it  was 
a  question  that  I  put  to  myself  when  I 
first  saw  Judy's  baby,  what  had  been  its 
early  history.  Now  my  heart  was  at  rest. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

DINNER    WITH   JUDY. 

THE  child  left  me  to  talk  with  her 
mother,  and  went  back  to  sit  in 
the  door  and  watch  over  Jimmy,  and  to 
finish  her  task  of  patch-work,  before  she 
could  go  to  play,  but  now  and  then  she 
would  give  me  a  sly  glance,  as  if  to  make 
sure  that  I  was  contented,  and  would  not 
hasten  away.  Somehow  I  had  no  wish 
to  go  very  soon,  and  I  had  a  sort  of  crav- 
ing to  taste  the  soup,  that  sent  forth  such 
a  savory  odor.  The  woman  took  it  from 
the  fire,  and  poured  it  into  the  tureen. 
"  Perhaps  you  will  eat  some  ? "  she  said 


AT   J0DY  8, 


DINNER   FOR  JUDY.  45 

rather  hesitatingly,  —  "  It  is  dinner  time, 
and  the  soup  is  nice  and  hot." 

Judy  brought  the  high  'chair,  and 
perched  close  beside  me. 

"  Will  you  ask  a  blessing  ? "  said  Mrs. 
Turner. 

It  is  beautiful  when  the  poor  look  up  to 
heaven  and  thank  God  for  "  his  bounty" 
as  they  sit  at  their  scanty  tables.  The 
blessing  surely  comes  in  answer  to  such 
grateful  hearts.  The  few  loaves  and 
fishes  turn  to  more  than  enough,  and  over 
twelve  baskets  of  fragments  are  gathered 
up. 

Judy  folded  her  little  hands  and  bowed 
her  head,  and  said  amen  to  the  short 
prayer.  Then  we  fell  to  work  in  good 
earnest. 

"  Delicious  !  "  I  exclaimed. 


46  JIMMY  DON. 

"  Better  van  I  made  the  over  day," 
said  the  little  girl.  "  Mover  knows  how." 

I  wondered  what  my  fashionable  ac- 
quaintances would  have  said,  to  see  my 
enjoyment  of  this  humble  dinner-party  ; 
and  then  there  came  to  me  the  sublime 
thought,  that  I  was  privileged  to  sit  at 
meat  with  God's  poor,  who  had  the  honor 
of  his  presence  much  oftener  than  did  the 
rich,  when  he  came  down  to  earth  to  walk 
with  men.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  could 
feel  a  heavenly  influence  in  this  little 
shanty,  such  as  I  had  never  experienced 
in  a  rich  man's  house  ;  and  then  I  knew 
that  God  makes  up*  to  the  righteous  poor 
for  the  lack  of  a  perishable  wealth,  by  a 
glory  that  will  endure  for  ever. 

The  sun  streamed  in^  at  the  open  door, 
making  a  flood  of  light  in  which  the  an- 


DINNER   WITH  JUDY.  47 

gels  stood  gazing  upon  us.  What  if  we 
could  not  see  them  !  They  were  none  the 
less  in  the  room,  and  the  children  of  God 
have  a  spiritual  consciousness  of  what  the 
natural  eye  can  not  perceive.  They  feel 
God  and  the  ministering  spirits  all  about 
thefn,  and  it  gives  to  earth  a  foretaste  of 
the  /Bl|er  world. 

Lmle\  Judy  got  down  from  her  perch, 
and  went  and  spread  out  her  hands  in  the 
light.  "  I  love  it,"  she  said,  "  and  my 
flowers  love  it, —  how  vey  gwow  ?  "  Then 
she  took  her  jb&by  and  held  him  in  the  full 
radiance,  as  pf  Paris  they  give  the  little 
naked  infants  a  sun-bath  once  a  day,  to 
make  them  vigorous  and  healthy. 

Her  mother  watched  her  with  glisten- 

> 

ing  eyes,  and  a  face  beaming  with  affec- 
tion. "  I  have  only  the  child  left  now," 


48  JIMMY  DON. 

said  she.  "  Her  father  was  taken  a  year 
ago  and  the  little  brother  just  after.  I  do 
not  mean  that  I  haven't  them  still  in  my 
heart  and  thoughts,  but  one  misses  sadly 
the  faces,  and  longs  for  them.  God  gives 
me  great  comfort  in  Judy  though ;  we 
have  happy  times  here  together." 

I  could  tell  that,  in  every  little  arrange- 
ment about  the  place,  things  were  fitted 
to  please  the  child,  as  well  as  the  mother. 
There  were  rough  shelves  low  down, 
with  a  few  toys  of  the  woman's  own  make ; 
a  rabbit  of  white  canton-flannel,  with 
pink  ears  and  black  eyes  ;  some  paper 
dolls,  and  a  small  wooden  table  with  a  red 
cloth  on  it  ;  and  a  little  pile  of  story 
books,  that  had  been  gathered  from  time 
to  time  out  of  her  spare  earnings. 

But  what  delighted  me  more  than  any- 


DINNER    WITH  JUDY.  49 

thing,  was  a  picture  that  hung  at  the  foot 
of  the  bed.  It  was  an  engraving  of  the 
better  sort,  and  represented  a  little  child 
holding  by  the  hand  of  her  good  angel, 
and  looking  up  with  a  sweet,  trustful  ex- 
pression that  seemed  to  say,  "  I  am  safe 
with  such  a  leader  ;  I  cannot  hurt  my  foot 
against  a  stone."  Mrs.  Turner  told  me 
that  it  was  given  her  by  a  city  missionary, 
who  felt  the  worth  of  such  silent  teachers 
in  homes  where  there  is  not  much  to  feast 
the  eyes  upon,  and  I  thought  it  would  be 
well  if  all  colporters  were  provided  with 
sacred  pictures  as  well  as  tracts,  for  the 
refreshment  and  instruction  of  the  poor. 

There  was  a  stand  by  the  bed-side  with 
a  Bible  upon  it.  A  few  chairs  and  a  small 
bureau  completed  the  furniture  of  the 
room.  Those  who  are  accustomed  to 

4 


50  JIMMY  DON. 

great  luxury,  to  all  sorts  of  superfluities, 

* 

would  say  "  What  a  barren  place  ! "  but  the 
woman's  face  showed  me  that  she  had 
filled  up  what  looked  to  others  like  empty 
space  with  visions  of  beauty  and  love, 
that  never  allow  a  discontented  thought  to 
enter  the  heart  or  wrinkle  the  brow  ;  and 
surely  that  place  is  never  barren,  where 
God  and  the  holy  angels  make  their 
abode. 

Judy  put  the  last  stitch  into  the  pink 
and  white  calico,  and  got  her  mother's  ap- 
proval of  her  work.  Then  she  made  a 
dive  under  the  bed  and  pulled  out  a 
square  wooden  box  to  show  to  me.  It 
held  her  baby's  wardrobe  —  one  little  gray 
cape  and  a.  white  apron, —  that  was  all ; 
but  she  felt  it  an  abundance,  and  began  to 
tie  the  things  about  Jimmy  and  make  him 


DINNER   WITH  JUDT.  51 

.ready  to  go  with  us.  You  should  have 
seen  her  joy,  as  I  gave  her  the  pretty 
trunk,  with  the  jaunty  hat  and  feather  and 
red  dress.  She  took  them  out  tenderly, 
as  if  a  touch  would  hurt  them,  and  she 
showed  them  to  her  mother  and  to  the 
great  black  cat  that  sat  purring  by  the 
door,  and  she  taljced  to  Jimmy  about  them 
all  the  time  she  was  adorning  him. 

"  We'll  wear  ve  old  clothes  when  we 
haven't  got  company,"  said  she.  "  Oh  my  ! 
how  pitty  !  how  pitty !  And  Jimmy  can 
put  his  arms  wound  my  neck  now,  his 
beautiful  fat  arms  ! "  That  was  the  sweet- 
est pleasure  to  her  of  all,  that  her  baby 
co.uld  hug  her  "as  little  brover  used  to 
hug  mover."  It  opened  so  many  new 
delights. 

"  He  shall  have  a  wattle  to  hold  in  his 


52  JIMMY  DON. 

little  hand  "  she  said,  "  a  pitty  bwight  wat- 
*•  tie,  wiv  tinkling  bells  vat  make  music  as 
we  walk." 

The  trunk  was  a  marvel  of  beauty  to 
Judy,  who  examined  it  inside  and  out,  her 
eyes  glistening  as  she  noticed  the  pink 
cambric  lining,  and  the  little  tray  for 
Jimmy's  hat,  and- the  picture  of  a  country- 
scene  on  the  inside  of  the  lid.  There  was 
a  river  gliding  along,  and  there  were 
green  banks  with  a  growth  of  the  dwarf 
willow,  and  plants  drooping  their  blossoms 
over  the  stream,  and  a  shallow  boat  with  a 
boy  and  girl  in  it,  moving  gently  as  the 
water  flowed.  It  was  quite  a  new  world 
to  Judy,  and  I  knew  it  would  be  a  pleas- 
ure to  her  to  turn  to  it,  and  dream  over  it, 
when  other  things  grew  wearisome.  Chil- 
dren have  so  much  imagination,  they 


DINNER    WITH  JUDT.  53 

make  a  great  deal  out  of  a  little.  With 
this  one  simple  picture  before  her,  in  the 
heat  of  summer  time,  when  people  escape 
from  the  city  to  running  waters  and 
green  pastures  and  bright  blossoms,  the 
poor  child  could  also  go  out  from  the 
close  shanty  to  such  freedom  and  beauty 
as  God  has  made  for  all  whose  thoughts 
choose  breadth  and  light  and  glory.  No- 
body need  be  pent  up.  It  is  exactly  as 
"  Patience  Strong"  says,  —  "  Everybody's 
little  yard-room  opens  into  all  out  doors." 
We  can  all  send  our  heart  and  our 
thoughts  wherever  we  please  over  this 
wondrous  earth,  with  its  treasures  scat- 
tered from  God's  bounteous  hand  and 
beyond  to  the  everlasting  hills,  and  to 
the  holy  city  with  its  shining  inhabitants 
going  to  and  fro  in  the  Divine  radiance. 


54  JIMMY  DON. 

Judy  put  the  new  trunk  safely  away, 
and  kissed  her  mother,  and  we  two,  with 
Jimmy,  went  out  for  our  holiday-time  ; 
Mrs.  Turner  watching  us  with  a  glad  face, 
content  to  endure  the  burden  and  toil  of 
life,  so  that  her  little  tender  one  might  be 
free  and  happy.  In  this  compassionate 
spirit  are  mothers  like  our  blessed  Lord 
Jesus,  who  bore  our  griefs,  and  carried 
our  sorrows,  that  we  might  live  in  hope 
and  joy. 


CHAPTER  V. 
JUDY'S  FIRST  LESSONS. 

NOBODY  had  disturbed  Judy's 
house.  It  was  good  that  it  was 
far  away  from  the  groups  of  hovels  that 
swarmed  with  little  children.  She  could 
leave  doors  open  from  day  to  day,  and 
find  things  just  as  safe  as  if  under  lock 
and  key.  I  don't  know  which  of  us  was 
happiest,  as  we  sat  down  to  rest  and 
looked  about  the  old  cellar. 

The  ailanthus  nodded  a  welcome,  and 
the  plants  in  Judy's  conservatory  were  as 
fresh  and  bright  as  could  be ;  and  the 
sweet  scent  of  white  clover  came  to  us 


56  JIMMY  DON. 

from  the  green  all  about  the  place.  We 
should  not  have  dreamed  that  there  was 
a  great  huddle  of  houses  a  short  distance 
away,  if  we  had  not  occasionally  gone  up 
to  our  front-door  to  look  abroad. 

It  was  Judy's  washing-day,  and  without 
minding  my  presence,  she  got  out  her 
tubs,  as  she  called  two  big  chips,  and 
went  heartily  to  work.  I  held  Jimmy, 
while  she  scrubbed,  and  rinsed,  and  hung 
out  the  clothes.  She  made  as  .much  ado 
over  her  task  as  if  it  were  real,  and  her 
little  face  was  red  and  moist  from  the 
exertion ;  and  when  Jimmy's  wardrobe 
was  flapping  upon  the  line,  the  little 
mother  sat  down  panting  and  tired  for  a 
minute,  and  then  was  up  and  flitting 
hither  and  thither  about  some  other  work. 
She  baked  bread  in  her  kitchen  stove,  and 


JUDY'S  FIRST  LESSONS.  57 

made  a  molasses-cake  for  tea,  and  stewed 
some  dried  apples  in  a  sauce-pan  ;  coming 
ev<iry  minute  to  see  if  I  were  weary  of 
the  baby,  and  if  he  were  good  and  not 
"  cwying  for  his  mover." 

"  I  hope  he'll  be  still  a  little  bit  longer," 
she  said,  "for  I  want  to  wun  over  and 
carry  a  piece  of  vis  nice,  hot  cake  to 
blind  Betty.  She  lives  way  across  ve 
gween,  wiv  nobody  to  take  care  of  her 
but  little  Jake ;  he's  a  good  boy.  I 
want  my  Jimmy  to  grow  up  like  him, 
and  ven,  if  I'm  blind,  he'll  help  me  as 
Jake  helps  his  mover." 

I  did  not  know  whether  the  child 
was  in  earnest  or  not,  until  I  watched 
her  from  the  topmost  steps,  as  she  sped 
across  the  clover-dotted  turf,  and  was 
lost  to  my  sight. 


58  JIMMY  DON. 

Presently  she  came  back,  leading  a 
neat  looking  lad  who  was  about  ten 
years  old.  "  Vis  is  Jake,"  she  said.  "  His 
mover  and  my  mover  used  to  live  in 
ve  same  place.  Betty  and  Jake  have 
just  moved  here.  I  shall  have  some- 
body to  play  wiv  now ;  mover's  willing 
I  should  play  wiv  Jake,  cos  he's  a  good 
bpy." 

The  little  fellow  was  as  neat  as  a 
new  pin,  and  was  evidently  in  better 
circumstances  than  Judy,  for  he  wore 
shoes  and  stockings,  and  his  clothes, 
though  coarse,  were  unpatched. 

"  Jake  can  wead,"  said  Judy,  proud 
of  her  young  companion's  accomplist)- 
ments  ;  "  such  pitty  stories  !  " 

That  was  just  what  I  had  been  wish- 
ing for;  somebody  to  teach  little  Judy 


JUDY'S  FIRST  LESSONS.  59 

at  such  times  as  I  could  not  myself 
come  to  her,  for  I  felt  that  we  must 
not  spend  all  our  leisure  time  in  play, 
but  must  be  laying  the  foundation  for 
an  earnest,  useful  life.  I  had  brought 
a  book  in  my  pocket  to  give  my  pet 
her  first  lesson  from,  and  Jake  could 
keep  the  letters  in  her  mind  until  my 
next  visit.  There  were  letters  and  words 
alone,  without  any  pictures.  I  wanted 
them  to  be  pictures  themselves  to  the 
child's  eye,  without  the  confusion  that 
would  come  from  a  mixed  thought. 
Then,  when  I  had  fixed  the  shape  of 
the  letters  upon  her  mind,  I  had  pages 
of  pretty  pictures  without  any  reading, 
and  I  meant  often  to  teach  her,  after 
the  German  fashion,  "  object  lessons  ; " 
and  by  and  by,  when  the  right  hour 


60  JIMMY  DON. 

had  come,  I  would  combine  for  her 
written  stories  and  pictorial  illustrations. 

She  was  glad  to  leave  her  play  for 
the  letters.  It  was  a  step  towards  Jake, 
and  she  was  eager  to  learn  ;  so  we 
made  good  progress  in  the  very  be- 
ginning, and  as  a  reward,  I  told  her 
about  the  little  ants  that  were  running 
so  busily  to  and  fro  with  their  black 
coats  glistening  in  the  sun-light.  She  on 
one  side  of  me,  and  Jake  on  the  other, 
were  ready  listeners.^ 

There  is  nothing  so  pleasing  to  chil- 
dren as  facts  in  natural  history.  Every 
little  space  around  them  is  teeming 
with  strange,  living,  working  creatures, 
that  may  be  made  familiar  and  beautiful 
to  the  young,  whose  early  life  is  spent 
out  of  doors.  The  tiny  ant-hills,  here  and 


JUDY'S  FIRST  LESSONS.  61 

there,  were  of  slight  interested"  Judy 
and  Jake  until  this  dayx.wken  I  showed 
to  them  the  wonders  going  on  in  the 
under-ground  galleries.  Judy's  eyes  spar- 
kled with  delight,  as  I  told  her  how 
the  nurses  feed  and  care  for  the  baby- 
ants ;  bringing  them  up  to  the  surface 
of  the  earth  to  get  the  sun's  heat,  and 
carrying  them  to  a  place  of  safety  when 
bad  weather  -threatens,  or  when  their 
home  is  disturbed.  She  and  Jake  were 
especially  pleased  with  the  description 
of  the  ant  cows,  or  "  aphides,"  or  "  vine- 
fretters"  whose  milk  is  so  precious  to 
the  ants,  that  they  often  build  small 
clay  galleries  from  their  hills  up  to  the 
trees,  and  even  to  the  branches  upon 
which  the  aphides  abound,  and  fre- 
quently keep  their  cows  in  their  own 


62  JIMMY  DON. 

premises,    and   gather  leaves  for  them  to 
feed    upon. 

"  What  do  the  ants  eat  ? "  asked  Judy. 

"  Don't  you  know  ?  "  said  Jake.  "  They 
get  into  the  cake-chest,  and  the  bread- 
jar,  and  sugar-bowl,  and  make  such  a 
time  in  the  pantry.  Mother  says  she 
had  as  lief  have  a  bear  in  her  closet 
as  these  little  thieves." 

"And  they  feast  upon  small  insects, 
and  dead  birds,  and  whatever  carcase 
they  can  find,"  said  I.  "  If  we  want 
the  skeleton  of  any  small  animal  thor- 
oughly cleansed,  we  have  only  to  place 
it  near  an  ant-hill,  when  it  is  quickly 
stripped  of  the  flesh.  They  do  a  great 
deal  of  good  in  this  way,  by  clearing 
the  earth  of  animal  and  vegetable  sub- 
stances that  would  putrefy  and  create 


JUDY'S  FIRST  LESSONS.  63 

sickness.  God  has  made  nothing  with- 
out a  purpose."  The  children  stooped 
down  to  the  ground  to  watch  the  little 
busy  ants,  with  a  new  interest.  Judy 
had  to  take  Jimmy,  and  show  him  the 
bustling  active  creatures,  and  tell  him 
what  "  Miss  Karlen "  had  told  her,  and 
when  she  had  finished  her  little  stock 
of  knowledge  she  came  back  to  me  for 
more. 

"  I  like  to  hear,"  she  said,  with  her 
eager  face  upturned  to  mine,  and  such 
a  craving  in  it  that  I  must  needs  try 
to  satisfy  her. 

"  And  I  love  to  tell  you,  dear  little 
Judy,  because  you  are  such  an  atten- 
tive hearer.  There's  ever  so  much  more 
about  these  mites  of  creatures  that  God 
has  so  curiously  and  wonderfully  made. 


64  JIMMY  DON. 

There  are  the  red  ants,  real  slave- 
holders. They  go  in  a  strong  army  to 
the  nests  of  other  ants,  and  steal  away 
the  workers  when  they  are  too  little 
to  resist,  and  carry  them  to  their  own 
homes,  where  they  make  them  do  ser- 
vice for  them  when  they  are  old  enough. 
I  must  get  '  Huber '  and  read  to  you 
and  Jake  the  things  that  I  cannot  re- 
member without  the  book.  He  was  the 
son  of  the  great  Huber  who  wrote  on 
bees.  Some  men  spend  all  their  lives 
in  finding  out  things  for  others.  It  would 
be  wicked  if  we  did  not  try  to  learn 
from  these  helpers  all  that  we  can." 
I  did  not  expect  my  little  four  years' 
old  pupil  to  grow  suddenly  into  a  ma- 
ture scholar,  and  to  care  more  for  books 
and  lessons  than  she  did  for  play.  I 


JUDY'S  FIRST  LESSONS.  65 

should  not  have  liked  that  at  all.  I 
was  glad  to  get  down  to  her  tiny  level, 
and  amuse  myself  with  the  simplest 
things  as  she  did. 

5 


CHAPTER   VI. 

BLIND    BETTY. 

IT  was  a  rest  and  refreshing  to  sit 
in  the  old  cellar  upon  a  rough 
board,  and  hold  Jimmy  Don,  and  make 
believe  that  I  was  away  back  in  the 
long  ago,  with  no  interval  between  ;  — 
no  interval  wherein  had  been  anything 
less  innocent  than  childrens'  follies,  less 
satisfying  than  childrens'  pleasures. 

So  we  three,  Jake  and  Judy  and  I, 
put  aside  our  books,  and  our  treatise 
on  Natural  History,  and  'went  up  from 
our  cellar  to  hunt  four-leaved  clover ; 
and  I  was  as  pleased  as  could  be  to 


BLIND  BETTY.  67 

get  one  first,  and  Judy  and  Jake  were 
happy,  because  they  felt  me  to  be  a 
very  child  with  them. 

The  day  was  just  as  beautiful  as  it 
could  be,  with  the  deep  blue  of*  the 
sky,  and  the  bright  green  of  the  earth, 
and  a  freshness  everywhere,  because  of 
recent  showers.  I  looked  up  at  the 
great  celestial  dome,  and  felt  myself  to 
be  in  a  temple  not  made  with  hands. 
And  God  seemed  to  pervade  all  things 
around  me.  The  little  girl  touched  me 
as  I  stood  with  my  eyes  raised  in  holy 
worship. 

"  What  is   it  ?  "    she  asked. 
* 

"  It     is    God    everywhere,    dear     little 

Judy.  He  is  in  the  heavens,  and  upon 
the  earth.  How  glorious  the  sky  is, 
because  of  him !  What  gladness  there 


68  JIMMY  DON. 

is  in  all  the  earth !  We  will  love  him 
more  and  more,  will  we  not  ?  —  this 
good  Father  who  gives  us  such  beauty 
and  such  joy.  Little  children  can  do 
him  honor  and  service.  He  cares  for 
them  more  than  for  us  grown  people, 
who  have  wandered  often  and  far  from 
his  dear  face." 

There  were  tears  in  my  eyes,  for  I 
felt  my  great  distance  from  the  purity 
of  the  little  child  before  me,  but  she 
drew  me  down  to  her,  and  threw  nay 
arms  around  my  neck,  -and  laid  her  soft 
cheek  to  mine,  and  kissed  me,  and  said, 
"Don't"  cwy,  Miss  Karlen,  God  loves 
you,  and  I  love  you  too." 

And  I  felt  that  he  did  love  me,  de- 
spite the  long  interval  with  its  many 
short  comings,  and  that  he  is  never 


BLIND  BETTY.  69 

very  far  away  from  us,  although  he  is 
high  and  holy,  and  inhabiteth  eternity ; 
but  that  he  makes  his  dwelling  with  the 
humble  and  contrite  soul. 

Little  Judy's  assurance  was  as  the 
message  of  an  angel  to  me,  "God  loves 
you  Miss  Karlen,  and  I  love  you  too." 
Oh !  this  human  love,  and  this  DivineM 
That  is  what  we  need,  and  that  is 
what  is  so  perfectly  blended  in  our 
blessed  Lord  Jesus,  who  knew  and 
provided  for  all  our  necessities.  A 
child's  simple  expression  teaches  me 
what  fullness  is  in  our  gracious  Re- 
deemer. 

"  Will  you  go  and  see  mother  ? "  said 
Jake,  "'tis  not  very  far  from  here.  She 
has  been  "  blind  for  two  years,  and  it 
does  her  good  to  be  with  people  though 


70  JIMMY  DON. 

she  can  not  see  them.  She  says  voices 
and  sounds  are  all  the  world  to  her 
now." 

He  led,  and  Judy  and  I  followed.  I 
had  nothing  to  do  but  to  obey  my 
will,  and  my  will  was  the  childrens'  will 
while  I  was  with  them.  I  was  having 
such  a  grand  holiday !  I  took  my  play- 
spell  gleefully  too,  for  I  knew  that  in 

* 

this  work-day  world,  there  would  be  my 
portion  of  the  burden  and  the  care, 
and  that  after  this  recreation  I  should 
be  stronger  to  endure  whatever  of  toil 
might  come. 

Betty's  house  was  a  trifle  larger  than 
Mrs.  Turner's,  but  it  lacked  the  space 
outside,  for  we  had  to  reach  it  through  an 
alley-way  that  led  out  of  a  short  street, 
and  there  was  a  row  of  brick  tenements  in 


BLIND  BETTY.  71 

front  and  in  the  rear.  It  was  farther  than 
"across  the  green."  'Children  always 
shorten  distances  ;  their  little  fresh,  fleet 
limbs  so  quickly  overstride  the  longest 
road !  I  was  tirad  enough,  yet  wholly 
repaid  for  my  weariness.  -Blind  Betty 
was  short  and  stout,  and  as  blithe  as  a 
girl,  and  she  had  the  sort  of  wisdom  that 
comes  from  looking  continually  within  ; 
and  that  does  us  good  who  keep  our  eyes 
open  too  much  upon  the  world  and  worldly 
things. 

"  It  is  one  of  God's  children,  I  know," 
she  said,  the  moment  I  had  spoken. 
"  You  see,  Miss  Karlen,  voices  have  come 
to  be  as  faces  and  forms  to  me  now,  and 
I've  learned  to  look  through  them  for  the 
soul,  as  I  used  to  look  through  peoples' 
eyes,  and  I  am  never  mistaken.  I  can  tell 


72  JIMMY  DON. 

when  the  love  of  the  Father  is  there,  just 
as  well  as  if  I  should  hear  them  say  it." 

Jake  gave  her  the  bunch  of  clover  that 
he  had  picked,  and  she  pinned  it  to  her 
bosom,  talking  in  the  meantime  of  the 
visions  that  it  brought  to  her. 

"  Oh  the  great,  green  sweep  with  these 
honey-blossoms  spread  over  it,  and  the 
golden-legged  bees  sipping  and  sipping, 
and  butterflies  flitting  about,  and  the  little 
rosy  children  making  merry  all  the  day  !  " 

She  did  not  say  it  sadly,  as  if  she  were 
sorrowing  over  any  th'ing  in  her  life  that 
had  passed  away ;  but  exultingly,  as  if  it 
were  a  beautiful  thing  in  her  memory 
that  nobody  could  take  from  her,  and  that 
gave  her  cause  for  thanksgiving.  Judy 
climbed  upon  her  lap  and  gazed  pitifully 
upon  the  sightless  eyes,  and  Betty  seemed 


BLIND  BETTY.  73 

to  know  that  the  child  was  thinking  of 
her  misfortune,  for  she  said,  "  Never  mind. 
If  my  eyes  are  shut,  Jake's  and  yours  are 
open  wide,  dear  little  daughter,  and  can 
see  for  me  all  that  is  good  and  beautiful ; 
and  as  to  the  evil,  why,  we  ought  to  be 
thankful  when  we  are  not  permitted  to  see 
that.'.' 

Blind  Betty  makes  her  living  by  fancy- 
work.  She  can  crochet  such  pretty  col- 
lars, and  make  such  beautiful  baskets  of 
beads  strung  upon  wire.  Jake  sells  them, 
going  from  door  to  door,  and  every 
body  is  willing  to  help  and  encourage 
those  who  try  to  help  themselves. 

"  Perhaps  you'd  like  one  of  my  baskets," 
said  she,  as  I  was  examining  them,  and 
wondering  at  the  skill  that  God  gives  to 
the  hands  when  he  takes  away  the  sight. 


74  JIMMY  DON. 

"  I  want  you  to  have  the  very  prettiest  as 
a  token  of  gratitude.  Little  Judy  has  been 
telling  me  all  about  your  kindness  to  her, 
and  my  heart  warms  to  those  who  be- 
friend the  widowed  and  the  fatherless." 

I  could  not  think  what  I  had  done,  ex- 
cept to  please  myself,  by  playing  with 
Judy  ;  but  I  knew  what  joy  it  is  for  the 
poor  to  be  sometimes  givers,  and  so  I  took 
a  little  blue  and  gold  basket  ;  promising 
Betty  a  new  stock  of  beads  when  I  should 
come  again.  She  showed  me  some  trin- 
kets that  Jake  had  made  —  ear-rings  and 
bracelets  of  beads,  and  toys  cut  from  soft 
wood  —  the  sale  of  which  helped  to  bring 
in  something. 

"Jake  was  like  a  man  in  the  house,"  she 
said  ;  "  so  steady  at  his  work,  and  such  a 
provider ! " 


BLIND  BETTY.  75 

The  boy  looked  pleased  at  this  praise, 
and  replied,  " '  Tis  my  mother  that  I  work 
for,  ma'am." 

I  was  not  sorry  for  ihis  new  acquaint- 
ance, made  through  Judy,  whose  world  was 
fast  becoming  my  world.  There  were  four 
now  to  think  of  and  feel  an  interest  in,  in- 
stead of  the-  one  little,  strange  child  I 
had  met  beside  the  shanty  door. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

OVER  THE    OCEAN. 

I  DID  not  dream  that  day,  when  I  bade 
the  blind  woman  good-bye,  and  part- 
ed from  Jake  and  little  Judy,  at  the  road 
which  led  to  the  car,  that  it  would  be  quite 
three  years  before  I  should  see  my  little 
girl  and  her  baby  again.  Almost  the  last 
glimpse  I  had  of  her  was  as  she  put  Jim- 
my Don's  fat  arms  around  her  neck  and 
kissed  him,  her  blue  eyes  beaming  with 
motherly  rapture  upon  her  darling. 

There  was  another  little  girl  that  was 
very  dear  to  me,  who  must  be  carried 
across  the  ocean,  and  with  whom  no  body 


OVER   THE  OCEAN.  77 

but  "  Aunt  Karlen  "  could  go  ;  so,  before 
there  was  time  to  take  a  jaunt  in  the 
horse-cars,  we  were  on  board  a  steamer, 
puffing  our  way  over  the  broad  sea.  I  had 
told  Cathey  of  my  little  pet,  and  to- 
gether we  made  up  a  box  to  be  sent  to 
her  after  we  had  left.  Cathey  had  a  new 
wardrobe,  and  the  old  one,  very  nice 
and  pretty  still,  went  in  the  box  to  Mrs. 
Turner  for  Judy.  There  were  shoes  and 
stockings  and  whole  suits  of  under-clothes, 
and  dresses,  bonnets,  and  books  ;  and  a 
large  doll  that  could  cry,  and  open  and 
shut  its  eyes.  I  should  like  to  have  been, 
there  when  the  box  was  received,  and  see 
how  Judy  would  feel  about  the  doll ;  wheth- 
er it  would  take  all  the  room  in  her  mo- 
therly heart,  or  if  she  would  still  cling  to 
Jimmy,  as  real  mothers  cling  to  their  lit- 


78  JIMMY  DON. 

tie  deformed  children  and  love  them  best, 
though  others,  bright  and  beautiful,  may 
be  born  to  them.  I  did  not  forget  the 
stock  of  beads  for  blind  Betty,  and  a  box 
of  carving-tools  for  Jake,  and  some  dress- 
patterns  of  delaine  for  Mrs.  Turner,  to 
whom  I  also  sent  a  well-filled  purse. 

All  my  plans  for  Judy  were  nipped  in 
the  bud.     I  could  not  teach  and  help  her 
as  I  intended  to  do,  but  somehow  felt  that 
she  would  push  upward   through  life,  and 
be  all  that  God  designed  her,  without  any 
assistance  of  mine.     There  were  the  pub- 
lic  schools    in  which  every  boy  and  girl, 
however  poor,  could  learn  by  a  thorough 
system,  and  if  the  desire  for   knowledge 
is  in   us,  we   can  satisfy  the    craving.     I 
thought  of  Judy,  and  often   talked  of  her 
to  little  Cathey,  as  we   sat  on  the  deck 


OVER   TEE  OCEAN.  79 

watching  the  great  waves  with  their  white 
crests ;  but  there  was  so  much  anxiety  in 
my  heart  for  the  little,  wan  figure  beside 
me,  that  I  could  not  give  much  thought 
to  any  thing  else.  Judy  would  be  five 
years  old  in  a  month,  Cathey  was  already 
seven,  and  both  were  mature  for  their 
age  ;  —  the  one,  from  the  self-reliance  that 
is  forced  upon  the  children  of  the  poor, 
the  other,  from  a  life-long  sickness  which 
had  taken  the  blithesomeness  out  of  her 
childhood. 

Dear,  little  Cathey  !  How  patient  she 
was,  how  full  of  sweetness,  and  how  well 
did  she  repay  all  my  watching  and  nurs- 
ing, by  her  love  and  trust  in  the  Great 
Father,  and  by  the  glimpses  she  gave  me, 
through  her  fine,  beautiful  nature,  of  that 
spirit  which  we  older  people  must  covet 


80  JIMMY  DON. 

and  try  to  possess  if  we  would  have   the 
kingdom  of  heaven  ! 

"  The  sea  is  so  wonderful ! "  she  said, 
fixing  her  large,  dreamy  eyes  upon  the 
blue-green  waters.  "  I  wish  I  knew  what 
is  down  there  in  the  deep  places  ;  tell  me. 
It  seems  to  me  like  the  heavens  that  I 
look  into,  up,  up,  past  the  stars,  till  I  seem 
to  see  God.  It  is  just  so  down  in  the 
beautiful  ocean  ;  we  are  sure  to  meet  him 
every  where,  are  we  not,  auntie  ?  " 

"  Every  where,  darling,  if  we  climb 
up  into  heaven,  or  go  down  into  the  deep. 
It  is  pleasant  to  know  that.  His  hand  has 
fashioned  the  bed  of  the  ocean  as  well  as 
the  dry  land  on  which  we  live.  There  are 
mountains  and  valleys  under  the  waves, 
and  green  plants,  and  pretty  pearls  and 
shells,  and  such  marvelous  creatures  glid- 


OVER   THE  OCEAN.  81 

ing  about  within  the  waters  ;  and  above  it, 
the  sea-birds  flapping  their  wings,  and 
diving  now  and  then  for  their  food." 

Every  morning  Nurse  Hannah  brought 
a  light  mattress  and  put  it  into  the  bow  of 
the  boat,  and  there  we  would  stay  all  the 
day,  never  weary  of  the  great  stretch  of 
waters  so  constantly  changing  before  our 
eyes.  The  sooty-black  petrel  came  skim- 
ming along  the  waves,  and  gulls  and  other 
aquatic  birds.  The  fishes  leaped  and  gam- 
boled in  the  foam,  and  the  music  of  the 
winds  and  waves  lulled  us  into  such 
dreamings,  that  we  often  wondered  if  we 
were  awake.  Before  we  had  time  to  make 
up  our  minds  upon  this  question,  we  were 
in  port,  and  amidst  a  strange  people,  but 
happy,  under  the  beautiful  skies  of  Italy. 

Among   the  mountains,  where. the   tall 


82  JIMMY  DON. 

chestnuts  grow,  and  where  the  goats  went 
leaping  from  rib  to  rib  of  the  great  rocks, 
Cathey  and  I  had  our  beautiful  southern 
home.  We  were  to  be  very  quiet  for  a 
while,  till  my  little  invalid  had  gained 
strength,  and  then  her  father  was  to  cross 
the  ocean  and  join  us,  and  travel  with  his 
little  daughter,  and  so  give  her  the  knowl- 
edge which  she  was  not  well  enough  to 
derive  from  books.  God  puts  one  gift 
over  against  another.  To  poor  Judy  he 
gave  robust  health,  and  to  rich  but  sickly 
Cathey,  plenty  of  money.  To  some  he 
gives  the  power  to  plod  and  digjbr  learn- 
ing, to  others,  whose  brains  will  not  bear 
the  strain  and  effort  of  study,  the  easy 
way  of  gathering  knowledge  through  the 
eyes. 

We  were  very  comfortable,  —  my  little 


OVER  THE  OCEAN.  83 

niece,  Nurse  Hannah  and  I,  with  Beppo 
and  good  Antonia  and  their  two  daught- 
ers in  the  little  farmhouse,  whence  we 
could  look  out  upon  the  women  as  they 
worked  in  the  field  in  their  pretty  peas- 
ant costumes  ;  the  broad,  Italian  hat  shad- 
ing them  from  the  sun.  There  were  lines 
of  poplars,  and  rows  of  pines  and  olive- 
trees,  making  the  landscape  green  and 
beautiful.  Wheat  and  rye  were  waving 
in  the  breeze,  and  in  the  distance,  though 
not  very  far  away,  the  high  hills  looked 
up  toward  heaven,  and  caught  its  majesty 
and  glory.  Cathey  loved  the  mountains 
so ! 

"  You  know,  auntie  dear,"  she  said,  "  Je- 
sus touched  the  mountains  often  with  his 
sacred  feet.  It  seems  to  me  but  a  step 
from  that  high  peak  where  the  sun  is 


84  JIMMY  DON. 

shining,  right  into  the  beautiful  city  where 
the  angels  are.  Oh,  if  I  were  only  strong 
enough  to  get  to  the  very  top  !  But  that 
sounds  like  being  sorry  to  lie  here  and  see 
the  glory.  I'm  not  sorry,  nor  unhappy. 
I'm  very  glad,  and  contented,  even  if  I 
should  never  be  well,  nor  climb  the  high 
hills  with  Celia  and  Julia.  Here  they 
come,  the  good  girls,  with  their  hands  full 
of  blue  corn-flowers  and  red  poppies ! 
They  have  not  forgotten  the  little,  sick  girl. 
It  is  so  nice  to  be  cared  for,  and  to  have 
people  think  of  you  ! " 

Every  day  the  vase  on  Cathey's  table 
was  filled  with  these  bright,  beautiful  blos- 
soms, and  with  the  yellow  saffron  flowers. 
The  two  girls  would  come  and  tell  her 
stories,  and  in  the  time  of  vintage  they 
brought  clusters  of  ripe  grapes  in  big 


OVER  THE  OCEAN.  85 

vine  leaves  ;  and  when  the  chestnuts  were 
gathered,  they  often  roasted  some  for  the 
little,  delicate  stranger,  who  had  been 
thrown  upoi>  their  love  and  pity. 

How  nice  Julia  and  Celia  looked  in  their 
holiday  dress,  —  their  gay  petticoats  and 
scarlet  corsets,  and  pretty  shoes  and  stock- 
ings. When  the  Sunday  morning  broke 
over  the  mountain-tops,  the  two  girls  and 
their  father  and  mother  tripped  off  to  ear- 
ly service  at  the  little  chapel  on  the  hill- 
side, a  mile  away ;  and  Cathey  watched 
them  from  the  high  windows,  as  their 
bright  colors  flashed  in  and  out  among  the 
green  vines. 

"  They  look  like  birds,"  she  said,  as  they 
grew  smaller  and  smaller  to  her  sight,  and 
only  the  brilliant  patches  shone  like  veins 
here  and  there  amidst  the  verdure.  An- 


86  JIMMY  DON. 

tonia  called  them  always  her  "  singing 
birds,"  they  were  so  blithe  and  gay ; 
trilling  their  sweet,  Italian  songs,  as  they 
went  merrily  about  their  work,  as  careless 
and  as  happy  as  these  creatures  of  the 
air,  which  sow  not  nor  reap,  nor  gather 
into  barns,  and  yet  are  fed  by  a  bounteous 
hand. 

Cathey  and  I  learned  their  soft,  musical 
language,  and  almost  forgot  our  mother- 
tongue,  except  when  the  long  home-letters 
came,  which  made  us  wish  to  -go  back 
again  across  the  sea.  Then  we  would 
pour  out  our  whole  hearts  in  our  native 
English,  and  droop  for  a  day,  when  the 
cheerfulness  would  return  to  us  and  we 
would  laugh  and  be  gay  with  our  peasant 
companions. 

It  was   amusing  to  see  them  drive  off 


OVER   THE  OCEAN.  87 

in  their  donkey-cart  to  market,  laden  with 
vegetables,  and  surrounded  by  bouquets 
of  wild-flowers  tastefully  grouped  and  tied 

for  sale.     Truely,  Beppo  and  his  wife  had 

<t 

reason  to  be  proud  of  their  singing  birds, 
that  brought  not  only  pleasure  but  profit 
to  their  home. 

Slowly  but  surely  little  Cathey  gained 
strength,  till  she  could  go  out  and  walk 
among  the  flowers  and  vines  ;  and  by-and- 
by  could  reach  the  beautiful  Alp  on  the 
mountain's  shoulder,  and  see  the  women 
and  children  tending  the  cattle  and  mak- 
ing cheese,  and  gathering  leaves  for  the 
goats,  and  mowing  the  sweet,  short  hay, 
and  plying  the  distaff.  It  was  so  differ- 
ent from  our  land,  where  the  women  are 
sheltered  and  cared  for,  and  the  men  take 
the  rough,  out-door  labor.  Except  the 


88  JIMMY  DON. 

spinning  and  the  cheese-making,  Cathey 
did  not  quite  like  this  toil  for  the  women  ; 
but  they  were  healthy  and  happy,  and  the 
active  life  in  the  open  air  made  them  live- 
ly and  cheerful.  How  rosy  their  cheeks 
were'!  How  their  eyes  sparkled !  and  as 
they  moved  about  in  the  sunlight,  the 
broad,  goMen  hoops  in  their  ears  shook 
and  glistened  with  their  every  motion. 

Before  a  year  had  passed  Cathey 's  fa- 
ther was  with  us,  and  we  were  upon  the 
move  nearly  all  the  time  ;  but  there  were 
new  beauties  everywhere  in  the  land- 
scape, and  we  had  not  a  minute  in  which 
to  be  homesick.  There  were  great,  rocky 
hights,  with  their  faces  like  jewels,  purple, 
and  green,  and  red,  and  yellow,  and  gray 
and  many  other  tints  ;  and  there  were  green 
vines  carried  up  over  these  natural  trel- 


OVER   TEE  OCEAN.  89 

lises,  hanging  gracefully,  and  the  pretty 
ferns  and  flowers  peeping  from  the  crevi- 
ces of  the  rocks.  Oh,  how  glorious  the 
mountains  were  with  this  blossoming  and 
verdure  below,  and  at  the  tops  of  some  the 
pure  snow,  and  the  fleecy  clouds  hanging 
above  it !  Then  the  busy  peasants  met  us 
all  along  our  route  with  up-heaped  baskets 
of  fruit,  and  bright  yellow  ears  of  maize. 
Their  costume  varied  in  different  parts  of 
the  country.  Here,  the  women  wore  scar- 
let cloth  dresses,  and  blue  aprons,  with  a 
neatly  frilled  chemise,  and  the  men,  a  scar- 
let waistcoat  faced  with  blue  ;  a  blue  coat, 
red  leggins,  and  a  scarlet,  woolen  cap. 
There,  the  girls  were  clad  in  blue  trowsers, 
and  a  short,  blue  petticoat,  and  a  loose 
outer  jacket ;  a  low  scarlet  bodice,  but- 
toned in  front,  and  a  snow-white  chemise 


90  JIMMY  DON. 

of  bleached  hemp,  with  full  sleeves  and  a 
lace  frill ;  a  red  kerchief  knotted  behind 
the  head,  or  a  blue  kerchief  upon  the  head , 
and  a  scarlet  hem  round  the  bottom  of  the 
blue  petticoat. 

Cathey  was  most  surprised  by  the  pro- 
cessions, which,  at  the  sound  of  the  bells 
on  some  feast-day,  wound  along  to  the 
churches.  There  was  the  melody  of 
chanting  in  the  air,  and  there  were  ban- 
ners and  crucifixes,  and  gilt. -lanterns  on 
poles,  and  long  lines  of  peasants,  each  line 
in  different  attire,  and  nearly  all  of  them 
women  and  girls  ;  the  women  wearing 
wide,  white  vails  which  fell  below  the 
waist,  and  the  children  having  white 
frocks  and  vails,  and  wreaths  of  roses 
round  the  head  and  garlands  of  flowers  in 
the  hand.  The  priests  brought  up  the 


OVER   THE  OCEAN.  91 

rear,  in  richly  embroidered  vestments  of 
purple,  fine  linen,  and  gold  brocade,  car- 
rying the  gold-enshrined  "  pyx,"  or  box  in 
which  the  wafer  is  kept,  and  the  massive 
silver  crucifixes,  and  the  chorister-boys 
followed  in  white  surplices.  The  umbrel- 
las of  green,  crimson,  orange-blue,  striped, 
and  yellow,  made  the  scene  very  pleasing 
and  picturesque  to  a  little  child,  and  to 
any  body  who  had  an  eye  for  beauty  and 
variety  of  color. 

It  was  fun  to  us  to  stop  at  the  chalets, 
when  we  were  tired  of  our  mule-rides,  and 
sit  down  to  eat  the  rye  bread  and  goat's- 
cheese,  which  seemed  a  rare  feast  to  hun- 
gry appetites.  The  peasants  made  nice 
omelets  for  us,  and  we  had  peas  boiled 
in  the  pod,  which  we  learned  to  like  very 
much  indeed.  We  had  gone  up  from 


92  JIMMY  DON. 

southern  Italy,  and  were  chiefly  among 
the  Swiss  Alps,  and  the  months  went  like 
so  many  weeks ;  there  was  so  much  to 
gather  to  take  home  with  us. 

We  heard  now  and  then  from  Judy, 
through  a  friend.  The  little  thing  was 
half-crazed  over  the  beautiful  doll,  and  the 
nice  things  that  we  had  sent  her ;  but 
when  the  excitement  was  gone,  she  pun- 
ished herself  for  her  momentary  neglect  of 
Jimmy  by  laying  the  new  baby  away  for  a 
day  in  the  box,  and  devoting  herself  en- 
tirely to  her  first-born.  After  that,  she 
talked  to  him  of  his  sister,  and  laid  the 
children  side  by  side  to  sleep,  with  the 
brother's  arm  protectingly  over  the  sister's 
neck. 

Cathey  was  so  well  now  that  she  needed 
only  father  and  Nurse  Hannah,  and  I  was 


OVER   THE  OCEAN.  93 

glad  to  turn  my  face  westward  again  for 
a  season.  My  pet  hung  upon  me,  and 
would  scarcely  permit  me  to  leave  her; 
but  I  promised  to  go  back  to  her  after  a 
little  while,  with  news  from  every  body  at 
home ;  and  so  she  kissed  me  a  cheerful 
good-bye  one  morning  when  the  sun  lay 
bright  in  the  valley.  "  God  will  keep  his 
arm  around  us  both,  dear  auntie,"  she 
said.  "  I  think  he  will  surely  bring  us  to- 
gether again." 

If  it  had  not  been  for  these  sweet,  trust- 
ful words,  I  should  not  have  been  able  to 
turn  away  from  her  with  so  bright  a  face. 
It  is  such  a  long  leap  across  the  Atlantic ! 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

JUDY'S  NEW  HOUSE. 

THINGS  will  not  stop  for  us  just 
where  they  are,  when  we  go  away 
for  a  year  or  more  from  any  place.  Mrs. 
Turner's  shanty  was  no  longer  on  the 
gold-be-spangled  green,  and  over  Judy's 
cellar  a  fine,  large  house  was  built.  I  went 
up  instead  of  down  some  steps,  and  rang 
a  bell,  and  asked  if  the  people  could  tell 
me  any  thing  of  a  little  girl  called  Judy 
Turner,  who  used  to  play  about  there,  and 
the  lady  of  the  house  said  "  No.  How 
can  I  keep  the  run  of  all  the  children 
that  roam  the  street  ? " 


JUDY'S  NEW  HOUSE.  95 

It  was  not  a  very  courteous  answer,  but 
every  body  does  not  know  and  practice 
the  grace  of  true  politeness.  I  thought, 
of  course,  all  the  people  in  that  vicinity 
must  be  acquainted  with  little  Judy,  but 
the  lady  had  never  seen  her,  and  did  not 
even  know  her  name. 

Then  I  went  to  the  house  where  Betty 
and  Jake  lived,  and  strange  faces  met  me. 
It  was  such  a  disappointment ! 

I  had  been  too  impatient  to  seek  first 
the  friend  who  wrote  to  me  of  my  little 
girl,  and  had  gone  directly  to  the  old  place, 
thinking  to  see  the  little  ailanthus-tree 
with  many  an  added  branch,  and  to  play 
at  house-keeping  with  Jimmy  and  his 
mother. 

When  I  did  seek  my  friend,  she  could 
only  tell  me  where  my  pet  lived.  She  had 


96  JIMMY  DON. 

not  seen  her  for  a  long  time.  Her  inter- 
ests lay  in  other  people,  and  in  other 
quarters,  and  she  had  only  looked  after 
Judy,  once  in  a  great  while,  to  send  news 
to  me  across  the  water. 

Ah,  I  caught  them  at  last !  Far  away 
from  the  old  place,  quite  at  the  other  end 
of  the  city,  in,  a  tenement  house  ;  but  up, 
up  toward  the  roof,  where  they  could 
breathe  the  air  of  heaven,  rather  than  the 
lower  stratum,  which  is  not  so  sweet  to 
take  into  the  lungs.  They  were  under 
one  shelter  now,  —  Betty  and  Jake,  and 
Judy  and  her  mother ;  the  first  two  at 
one  end  of  the  hall,  in  the  back  rooms, 
and  the  last  two  at  the  other  end,  in  front 
apartments,  a  bed-room  and  a  "  parlor." 

Judy  flew  to  meet  me,  when  the  door 
opened,  and  she  saw  who  it  was  ;  but  she 


JUDY'S  NEW  HOUSE.  97 

was  not  exactly  the  little  girl  that  I  left 
standing  at  the  end  of  the  car-route,  with 
bare  feet,  and  worn,  scant  frock. 

She  had  improved  wonderfully,  some- 
how. It  may  be  that  Cathey's  clothes  had 
put  Cathey's  proud  spirit  into  her,  but  I 
think  not.  I  think  she  had  always  the 
spirit  to  be  nice  and  tidy,  but  the  means 
had  been  lacking.  She  had  grown  a  head 
taller,  and  had  lost  her  babyish  way  of 
talking,  and  could  sound  her  th's  and  r's  as 
well  as  I  could  ;  but  in  one  thing  she  was 
my  own  Judy,  and  that  was  in  the  trust- 
ful, clinging  disposition  which  had  first 
attracted  me.  I  was  glad  to  find  that 
her  blue  eyes  were  sunnier  than  ever,  and 
her  brown  hair  had  a  fine  gloss  upon  it; 
and  hung  in  great,  loose  curls  about  her 
head.  She  wore  a  blue  calico  dress,  and 

7 


98  JIMMY  DON. 

a  white  bib  apron,  and  neat  little  boots, 
buttoned  over  the  whitest  of  stockings  ; 
and  she  had  been  sitting  at  a  stand  by  the 
window,  getting  her  lessons. 

Her  mother  was  younger  than  when  I 
left,  instead  of  older. 

"  God  has  blessed  me  very  much,"  she 
said.  "  I  have  had  plain  sewing  and  plen- 
ty of  it,  since  the  gift  of  your  full  purse 
enabled  me  to  change  my  home.  We  are 
all  doing  well  now,  thanks  to  our  heavenly 
Father ! " 

There  was  an  ingrain  carpet  on  the 
floor,  —  a  pretty  pattern  which  made  one 
think  of  green  grass  and  fern  leaves, — 
and  the  furniture,  though  cheap,  was 
tasteful,  and  there  was  an  air  of  comfort  in 
the  place  that  one  does  not  always  see  in 
the  luxurious  homes  of  the  rich.  It  is 


JUDY'S  NEW  HOUSE.  99 

such  a  rare  and  blessed  gift,  this  power  to 
make  even  the  humblest  things  minister  to 
our  ease  and  pleasure  !  Money  cannot  pur- 
chase it.  It  must  come  direct  from  the 
hand  of  God.  It  is  a  better  talent  than  sil- 
ver. I  had  not  been  long  in  the  room  be- 
fore I  espied  what  my  eyes  had  been  eager- 
ly peering  about  to  see.  Judy's  baby-house 
had  received  additions.  Under  the  table, 
at  the  side  of  the  room,  was  a  little  willow 
cradle,  and  in  it  lay  Jimmy  Don  and  the 
beautiful  little  sister,  side  -by  side,  in  the 
sweetest  relationship. 

"  Jimmy  loves  her  so ! "  said  Judy,  fol- 
lowing the  direction  of  my  gaze,  and  tak- 
ing the  two  children  from  their  resting 
place. 

She  had  not  outgrown  nor  forgotten  her 
motherliness,  and  the  imagination,  which 


100  JIMMY  DON. 

used  to  have  such  full  play  as  we  sat  on 
the  green  velvet  sofa  in  the  old  cellar,  was 
just  as  vivid  now  as  ever. 

"You  see,"  she  said,  holding  out  the 
same  little  demijohn  with  the  cork  face, 
that  had  amused  me  long-ago,  "  Jimmy  is 
getting  to  be  a  great  boy  now ;  he  can 
walk  and  talk,  and  take  some  care  of  his 
little  sister.  I  teach  him  to  watch  over 
her,  and  to  be  very  careful  of  her,  for  that's 
the  way  for  boys  when  they  are  older  than 
the  girls.  Jimmy  thinks  the  world  of 
Rosa." 

It  was  toward  sunset  when  I  made  this 
first  visit  to  my  Judy,  and  I  could  not  stay 
a  great  while  ;  but  I  sat  down  by  the  win- 
dow, and  took  her  and  the  two  babies  in 
my  arms,  and  we  watched  the  glow  of  the 
heavens,  and  talked  together  of  the  little 


JIMMY    AM)    ROSY. 


JUDY'S  NEW  HOUSE.  101 

Cathey,  far  away  among  the  southern  hills, 
and  of  the  time  when  God  should  bring  us 
all  to  one  eternal  home. 

"  It  is  nice  to  be  all  together,"  said  Ju- 
dy. "We've  had  good  times  since  we 
lived  here." 

She  was  thinking  of  Betty  and  Jake 
then.  She  was  not  quite  ready  to  leave 
present  realities.  Children  are  content 
with  the  now ;  older  people  are  always 
looking  forward  to  something  to  come,  and 
the  very  aged  go  back  to  dwell  in  their 
childhood. 

"  I  must  look  in  upon  Betty  before  I 
go,"  I  said. 

"  Jake  is  in  a  store,"  said  Judy ;  "  he 
gets  good  wages.  He  is  thirteen  years 
old  now,  and  has  grown  tall.  He  comes 
in  and  helps  me  with  my  books  when- 


102  JIMMY  DON. 

ever    he    can.      Jake     is    such     a    good 
boy!" 

"  And  does  Betty  still  make  the  pretty 
baskets  ? " 

"  Oh,  yes.  What  would  become  of  her, 
if  her  poor  hands  had  to  be  idle  !  I  saw  a 
blind  woman  the  other  day,  who  did  not 
know  how  to  do  any  thing,  and  her  fingers 
kept  picking  at  her  dress,  and  doubling 
the  bottom  of  the  skirt  into  little  folds  all 
the  time ;  and  she  worked  her  jaws  as  if 
they  were  scissors,  opening  and  shut- 
ting them  as  fast  as  she  could.  I  pitied 
her,  and  was  sorry  she  did  not  make  bead 
baskets,  or  knit,  or  crotchet  mats  and  col- 
lars, as  Betty  does." 

"  And  you  go  to  school,  little  Judy  ? " 

"  Such  a  pleasant  place  ! "  she  replied. 
"  A  great,  brick  schoolhouse,  with  room  for 


JUDY'S  NEW  HOUSE  103 

hundreds  and  hundreds  of  children,  whether 
they  have  money  or  not  And  we  have 
such  good,  kind  teachers,  and  music,  and 
a  beautiful  play-ground  at  recess,  and  I 
find  so  many  little  girls  to  love,  and  we 
say  such  nice  lessons  ;  —  Oh,  I  like  school, 
Miss  Karlen !  I  can  read  almost  as  well 
as  Jake,  and  am  learning  geography  and 
arithmetic  and  definer,  and  I  am  often  at 
the  head  of  my  class,  and  that  makes  me 
very  proud  and  very  happy." 

"  They  call  Judy  a  bright  scholar,"  said 
Mrs.  Turner.  "  The  child  gets  on  finely 
with  her  studies,  and  is  promoted  every 
quarter.  She  is  like  her  father  in  her  love 
of  books.  I  don't  think  she  can  do  better 
than  to  get  all  the  knowledge  she  can.  It 
is  worth  more  than  other  riches,  because 
it  can  not  take  wings  and  fly  away." 


CHAPTER   IX. 

GODLINESS   WITH    CONTENTMENT. 

MRS.  TURNER  was  such  a  sensi- 
ble person  !  I  liked  to  talk  with 
her.  She  was  not  always  fretting  because 
her  lot  was  cast  in  a  lowly  place,  and  be- 
cause she  had  to  work  while  others  lived 
at  ease,  and  because  there  was  honey  and 
the  wheaten  loaf  on  many  a  table,  while 
hers  had  only  rye  bread  and  cheese. 

"  God  puts  things  just  where  they 
ought  to  be,"  she  said.  "  If  it  were  best 
for  me  to  be  in  a  grand  house,  with 
horses  and  carriages  and  servants  and 
gold  at  my  command,  I  should  be  sure 


GODLINESS  WITH  CONTENTMENT.      105 

to  have  them ;  but  I  doubt  not  these 
attic  rooms  are  the  rounds  on  the  silver 
ladder  that  lead  me  nearer  to  heaven. 
I  might  be  proud  and  lofty  if  I  had 
wealth  and  grandeur,  and  I  might  be 
looking  always  on  the  glitter  of  my  world- 
ly goods ;  whereas  now,  Judy  and  I  sit 
here  in  the  evening,  when  the  day's  work 
is  all  done,  and  look  up  at  the  stars, 
and  beyond  them  to  the  glory  that  is 
promised  by-and-by." 

"  So  you  are  satisfied  that  God  is  not 
partial  when  he  gives  to  one  wealth,  and  to 
another  poverty  ? "  said  I,  to  test  her  faith. 
It  bore  proving  better  than  I  thought  it 
would. 

"  More  than  satisfied  that  he  is  all  wis- 
dom and  goodness,"  she  said.  "  What  we 
call  riches,  may  in  his  sight  be  the  worst 


106  JIMMY  DON. 

poverty,  especially  if  it  work  to  the  loss 
of  the  soul,  as  gold  too  often  does.  God 
partial !  Oh,  no  !  He  gives  to  every  one 
of  his  creatures  the  thing  that  is  right. 
I  should  not  wish  to  exchange  my  lot  for 
any  other  in  the  world.  Judy  and  I  have 
had  such  blessings  and  joy  in  this  life,  and 
it  is  so  good  to  think  that  this  is  not  all,  but 
that  there  is  a  house  with  God  above.  It 
would  be  strange  if  we  were  not  satisfied." 

There  were  steps  outside  the  door,  just 
as  I  arose  to  go,  and  Betty  and  Jake  came 
in.  So  the  end  of  the  three  years  had 
brought  us  five  together  again. 

The  old,  blind  woman  put  her  hand  ten- 
derly upon  my  forehead,  and  let  it  slide 
gradually  down  my  face,  as  if  she  were 
taking  measure  to  see  what  changes  the 
months  had  wrought,  if  any. 


GODLINESS  WITII  CONTENTMENT.     107 

She  said  "My  child ! "  to  me  with 
such  large-hearted  benevolence,  as  if  she 
could  take  all  the  world  under  her  mother- 
ly wing.  "  And  so  you  have  been  abroad, 
and  have  seen  more  and  more  of  God's 
love  and  power.  It  is  a  mercy  to  them 
that  take  it  in  rightly.  It  isn't  every  body 
that  is  enlarged  by  travel.  There  are  some 
people  whom  the  more  you  feed,  the  leaner 
they  grow.  I  am  sure  you  are  not  one  of 
these  last,  Miss  Karlen.  I  can  feel  the 
fullness  in  your  face,  which  I  know  is  in 
your  heart." 

I  was  almost  afraid  of  Betty,  she  seemed, 
without  eyes,  to  see  so  much  farther  than 
others  see  with  them,  that  it  gave  me  a 
sort  of  awe  to  be  near  her.  But,  then-,  she 
interpreted  me  so  kindly. 

Jake  was   as  fine  a  looking  lad  as  one 


108  JIMMY  DON. 

would  wish  to  see.  He  had  a  manly  figure 
for  a  boy  of  his  age,  and  a  frank,  honest 
face  that  would  make  its  way  any  where, 
and  beget  perfect  confidence.  I  had  to  sit 
down  again  with  the  little  party  all 
round  me,  and  tell  them  something  of 
what  I  had  seen  and  heard  ;  and  they 
listened  with  such  delight  that  it  was 
worth  the  time  and  money  I  had  spent 
away  from  home. 

Betty  insisted,  when  I  had  finished  talk- 
ing, that  she  had  herself  been  on  the  same 
travels,  and  laughed  to  think  with  how 
much  more  ease  she  had  accomplished 
them.  And  Jake  and  Judy  followed  me  on 
the  map,  and  stopped  for  the  night  just 
where  I  had  left  little  Cathey,  with  the 
golden  morning  about  her,  when  she  said, 
"God  will  keep  his  arm  around  us  both, 


GODLINESS  WITH  CONTENTMENT.      109 

dear  auntie,  and  I  think  he  will  surely 
bring  us  together  again." 

It  was  a  pleasant  place  to  stop  ;  not  far 
from  the  foot  of  a  mountain,  on  whose 
sides  the  forest  was  falling  into  shade. 

I  shut  my  eyes  for  a  minute,  and  re- 
called, as  in  a  strange  dream,  one  evening 
when  Cathey  and  her  father  and  I  sat  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,  on  the  bank  of 
a  river,  to  see  a  religious  procession  pass. 
It  wound  down  a  zig-zag  track  among  the 
dense  trees,  the  many  voices  chanting 
the  Gregorian  tones,  and  the  river  mur- 
mering  a  symphony.  First  came  a  cross, 
borne  aloft,  with  banners,  and  gilt  lan- 
terns, and  poles,  followed  by  a  hundred  and 
fifty  women,  two  and  two,  dressed  in  long 
white  robes,  and  white,  hood-like  veils. 
Then  another  crucifix,  with  banners,  and  a 


110  JIMMY  DON. 

hundred  and  fifty  men  wrapped  in  mantles 
of  brown  sackcloth,  and  all  with  rosaries 
of  white  beads.  Another  cross  headed 
a  long,  double  file  of  women  enveloped  in 
black,  followed  by  a  large  body  of  men  in 
the  same  somber  garb,  and  wearing  black 
hoods  ;  then  about  two  hundred  in  white, 
and,  lastly,  the  priests.  A  canopy  of  crim- 
son satin  overshadowed  the  arch-deacon, 
who,  with  his  canons,  were  robed  in  their 
embroidered  vestments  of  crimson  and 
white  satin,  and  gold.  The  procession  had 
come  from  a  long  distance,  and  a  great 
crowd  followed  them  into  the  city  to  the 
cathedral,  where  they  went  to  offer  up 
their  prayers. 

I  told  this  dream  to  my  little  party,  and 
old  Betty,  said  "  God  has  made  it  a  very 
easy  pilgrimage  to  the  throne  of  his  grace  ; 


GODLINESS  WITH  CONTENTMENT.      Ill 

shall  we  not  go  there  before  we  part  to- 
night ? " 

We  were  very  glad  to  do  so,  for  we  all 
felt  the  need  of  his  refreshing ;  so  when 
we  had  humbly  knelt  in  his  presence,  and 
said  "  Our  Father,"  there  was  the  peace 
in  our  hearts  which  little  children  have  at 
night,  as  they  are  folded  in  their  parents' 
arms  and  receive  the  kiss  of  love  and  bene- 
diction ;  only  a  greater  peace  than  that,  — 
the  peace  that  passeth  all  understanding. 

Jake  went  home  to  my  door  with  me, 
and  talked  all  the  way  of  Judy,  asking  if  I 
did  not  think  her  a  little  beauty,  and  tell- 
ing me  more  about  her  graces  and  accom- 
plishments than  I  could  have  learned  in 
many  days  by  my  own  observation. 

"  You  see  I  live  where  I  can  know  all 
about  her,"  he  said.  "  She  saves  her  mo- 


112  JIMMY  DON. 

ther  every  step  that  she  can,  and  is  as 
kind  as  a  daughter  to  my  mother  ;  and  her 
face  is  always  smiling  and  happy.  She's 
the  best  little  creature  I  ever  saw,  and  the 
neatest  and  prettiest !  " 

It  was  so  much  to  be  glad  for,  that  I 
almost  forgot  Cathey  that  night,  and 
went  to  sleep  thinking  more  of  the  little 
girl  close  by  than  of  the  traveler  far 
away ;  but  Cathey  came  to  me  in  my 
dreams  before  the  morning,  with  a  peas- 
ant's garb  on,  and  a  wreath  of  the  blue 
corn-flowers  about  her  head,  and  I  was 
not  sure  until  the  sunlight  showed  me  my 
empty  room,  that  she  had  not  been  really 
beside  my  bed.  So  God  blesses  us  with 
these  visits  of  our  dear  ones,  that  make 
the  time  of  our  separation  seem  shorter 
and  less  sad. 


CHAPTER  X. 

BLIND  BETTY'S  BLESSING. 

THERE  were  so  many  home  duties 
for  me  during  the  twelve  months  of 
my  proposed  absence  from  Cathey,  that  I 
could  not  go  very  often  to  see  little  Judy, 
but  so  long  as  she  was  doing  well,  both  in 
mind  and  body,  I  was  fully  satisfied. 
Only  I  felt  the  need  to  break  away  now 
and  then  from  the  luxuries  and  frivolities 
of  life  which  surrounded  me,  and  to  go  up 
into  the  pure  and  simple  atmosphere  of 
Mrs.  Turner's  attic  rooms,  and  hear  the 
freshness  of  a  little  child's  earnest  lan- 
guage, and  the  eloquent  preaching  of 


J 114  JIMMY  DON. 

blind    Betty,   which    always   touched    ray 
soul. 

There  were  two  dormer-windows  in  Ju- 
dy's parlor,  and  she  had  filled  one  of  them 
with  the  plants  that  were  most  beautiful 
and  vigorous.  It  seemed  as  if  the  sun  re- 
joiced to  draw  forth  their  full  splendor, 
for  the  leaves  were  large  and  green,  and 
the  blossoms  as  fragrant  and  lovely  a« 
could  be.  Heliotrope  and  mignonnette, 
and  purple  and  white  stocks  mingled 
their  sweet  odors,  and  shed  a  delicious 
perfume  through  the  room.  Jake  had 
made  a  large  cage  and  hung  it  outside  the 
window,  and  here  the  little  sparrows  had 
made  their  home,  and  chirped  merrily  all 
the  day.  It  had  an  ever  open  door,  and 
they  went  in  and  out  at  pleasure,  and  ate 
of  the  crumbs  that  my  little  girl  scattered 


BLIND  BETTY'S  BLESSING.          115 

upon  the  window-sill.  Upon  the  roof  of 
an  adjoining  house  that  jutted  out  a  little 
below,  tame  pigeons  billed  and  cooed,  and 
looked  with  side-long  glances  at  the  spar- 
rows and  the  flowers  and  the  little  girl 
who  was  prettier  than  all.  Opposite  the 
windows,  lifted  against  the  sky,  was  a  gilt 
cross  pointing  heavenward  from  a  tall 
church  spire.  Sometimes  a  dove  perched 
upon  it  to  rest,  and  smooth  his  ruffled 
feathers  after  a  long  and  weary  flight. 
Ah,  it  is  only  upon  the  cross  of  our  dear 
Lord  that  any  of  us  can  have  sweet  rest 

and  peace !     We  may  roam  the  world  over 
• 
on   fluttering  wing,    but   we   must    come 

back  to  the   one  true  support ;   and  then 
we  may  sit  and  sing  in  the  sunlight,  con- 
tented and  blest. 
Betty  had  not  the  same  pleasant  view, 


116  JIMMY  DON.  * 

but  then  it  "did  not  matter,  since  her  eyes 
turned  inward.  I  think  her  soul  was  a 
rare  and  beautiful  garden,  where  the  rose 
of  Sharon  and  the  lily  of  the  valley  grew. 
She  seemed  always  to  see  the  bloom,  and 
to  breath  the  fragrance.  The  Lord  God 
walks  almost  visibly  to  the  righteous  blind. 
He  makes  up  in  a  two-fold  measure  to 
them  for  what  they  lose  of  the  beauty  of 
earth.  I  am  sure  of  this,  because  I  have 
often  heard  them  talk  of  such  visions  as 
my  open  eyes  never  beheld.  They  are 
almost  always  happy.  They  put  their 
whole  trust  in  him,  and  he  never  fails  such 
as  give  him  all  their  confidence. 

Betty  called  me  into  her  room  the  day 
before  I  was  again  going  to  cross  the 
ocean.  She  stood  in  the  middle  of  the 
floor ;  the  sunlight  streamed  around  her, 


BLIND  BETTY'S  BLESSING.          117 

just  as  it  fell  in  a  great  flood  in  Mrs. 
Turner's  shanty  the  time  that  Judy  held 
out  her  baby  for  a  warm  bath.  Betty 
seemed  as  one  glorified.  I  knew  she  was 
going  to  talk  to  me  of  something  that  had 
cheered  her  own  soul,  and  which  would 
prove  a  cheering  and  a  blessing  to  me 
many  a  time,  when  life  would  seem  to 
lack  sunshine. 

"  So  we  are  to  lose  you  to-morrow,"  she 
said.  "  I've  been  thinking  very  much  about 
you,  Miss  Karlen,  and  about  the  many 
meetings  that  belong  to  this  world.  It  has 
brought  back  the  time  when  I  had  a  little 
home  of  my  own  under  the  big  elms  in  the 
green  country.  There  was  my  husband 
and  little  Jake.  I  thought  that  joy  would 
last  for  ever,  and  I  put  my  whole  heart  in 
it ;  but  God  took  away  such  a  false  hope, 


118  JIMMY  DON. 

and  gave  me  something  more  enduring. 
So  long  as  all  my  soul  was  set  on  these 
things,  every  little  change  made  me  sor- 
rowful. Now  I  am  looking  more  to  the 
end,  and  whatever  I  have  to  pass  through 
is  but  a  step  toward  that.  I  do  not  dwell 
upon  the  shadows  that  flit  across  my  path- 
way. Beyond  them  stands  our  Lord  Je- 
sus, and  his  brightness  reaches  me  al- 
ways." 

Ah,  I  could  see  that !  It  was  like  a 
garment  of  light  falling  around  her,  and 
transfiguring  her.  I  envied  her,  poor  and 
sightless  though  she  was. 

She  came  close  to  me,  and  put  her 
hands  upon  my  head,  and  said,"  God  bless 
you !  Remember,  whatever  shadows  come 
there  is  a  fixed  brightness  and  glory  be- 
yond. Don't  let  the  world,  the  flesh,  or 


BLIND  BETTY'S  BLESSING.          119 

the  devil  get  the  dominion  over  you. 
Serve  the  Master  that  you  have  long 
served,  —  the  gracious  and  loving  Master, 
and  you  will  never  have  much  cause  for 
sadness." 

That  was  the  last  time  I  ever  saw  blind 
Betty.  Before  I  had  finished  my  long  pil- 
grimage abroad,  she  was  in  a  fuller  light 
than  earth  affords,  and  had  a  clear  and 
perfect  vision. 

Judy  and  I  had  a  long,  long  parting  in- 
terview, sitting  on  the  window  with  the 
moon  shining  in  upon  us  ;  for  I  chose  the 
evening  in  which  to  say  good-bye  to  her. 

"  You  will  be  grown  a  young  woman  by 
the  time  I  come  to  you  again,  if  God 
spares  our  lives,"  I  said.  "  I  have  many 
and  many  a  hope  for  you,  dear  little 
daughter,  and  first  of  all,  that  you  may 


120  JIMMY  DON. 

be  God's  own  child,  and  be  very  close  to 
him ;  never  forgetting  your  prayers  by 
day  or  by  night,  and  always  remembering 
that  his  eye  is  upon  you  and  sees  all  that 
you  do,  and  that  his  ear  is  open  to  hear 
all  that  you  say.  I  hope  for  none  but  good 
and  pleasant  words  to  fall  from  your  lips, 
and  none  but  virtuous  deeds  to  be  done  by 
your  hands." 

The  child  leaned  her  head  upon  my 
breast,  and  fastened  her  gaze  upon  me. 
"  I  love  to  hear  you  talk,"  she  said  ;  "  it  is 
beautiful  here  in  the  night  with  only  the 
lights  in  the  sky.  The  moon  will  shine 
on  you  and  me  when  you  are  far  away ;  the 
same  moon,  Miss  Karlen,  the  same  moon ! " 

"  Yes,  darling,  the  very  same.  I  hope 
it  will  always  find  us  doing  what  our  Fa- 
ther will  be  pleased  with." 


BLIND  BETTY'S  BLESSING.          121 

Then  I  went  back  to  my  subject.  "  So 
many  things  that  I  wish  you  to  do,  little 
Judy,  before  you  are  a  grown  woman.  So 
much  to  learn  now  while  you  are  a  child, 
and  have  no  heavy  cares,  —  things  that 
will  help  you  by-and-by  to  bear  the  bur- 
den of  it,  should  it  come." 

"I'll  study  very  hard,"  she  said,  "and 
Jake  will  help  me ;  and  between  school 
hours  I  can  take  some  of  the  work  off  mo- 
ther's hands.  I  can  sew  such  good  shirt 
seams  now,  she  says,  and  am  her  little 
helper." 

"  That  is  nice ;  I  am  sure  you  will  be 
her  great  helper  by-and-by;  and  that  you 
will  be  able  to  keep  house  as  neatly  as 
mother  does ;  and  if  God  permits  you  to 
be  married,  and  to  have  a  home  of  your 
own,  and  little  children,  that  ypu  will 


122  JIMMY  DON. 

make  every  body  happy  around  you,  and 
be  such  a  blessing  as  a  good  woman  alone 
can  be." 

She  clapped  her  hands  merrily  at  the 
thought  of  a  house  of  her  own,  and 
jumped  down  from  my  lap  to  tuck  Rosa 
snugly  in  the  cradle,  as  if  her  housewifely 
and  motherly  cares  had  already  begun. 
Jimmy,  being  a  big  boy,  sat  up  a  little 
later  in  his  high  chair  near  us  ;  but  the 
time  came  to  bid  adieu  both  to  Judy  and 
to  him,  and  she  skipped  down  the  stairs 
after  me,  holding  him  by  one  hand,  and 
telling  him  to  say  good-night  to  the  lady 
who  made  his  ""pretty  red  dress,  and  gave 
him  the  hat  with  the  red  feather. 

Mrs.  Turner  and  Jake  met  at  the  foot 
of  the  steps,  and  the  boy  politely  escorted 
me  home.  I  was  glad  of  the  chance  to 


BLIND  BETTY'S  BLESSING.          123 

put  a  parting  gift  into  his  hand  for  Judy, 
and  for  each  of  my  friends  in  the  attic. 
"  You  can  buy  what  you  please  with  it,"  I 
said.  "  I  can  not  tell  what'you  all  want." 


CHAPTER  XL 

JUDY    A    WOMAN. 

EIGHT  years  more  of  wandering  in 
strange  countries !  Who  can  tell 
what  changes  such  an  interval  must  bring 
to  the  old,  familiar  scenes !  And  who 
can  tell  how  much  of  good  one  may  gather 
as  one  goes  from  spot  to  spot  over  God's 
beautiful  world. 

I  found  my  Cathey  in  the  city  of  Venice. 
She  was  out  with  her  father  and  Nurse 
Hannah  in  a  gondola,  and  before  she 
knew  that  I  had  arrived,  I  had  stepped 
into  another  boat,  and  had  told  the  gondo- 
lier to  overtake  the  party  that  I  could  see, 


JUDY  A    WOMAN.  125 

not  far  away.  So  we  shot  smoothly  over 
the  smooth  waters,  and  my  gray  silk  scarf 
streamed  like  a  banner  from  the  window, 
and  almost  touched  Cathey's  hand  as  we 
approached.  She  gave  a  little  scream  of 
joy,  and  insisted  on  coming  into  my  gon- 
dola, and  we  rowed  side  by  side  to  our 
hotel,  a  merry  and  a  happy  party. 

I  can  not  begin  to  tell  you  where  we 
went  after  this,  nor  what  we  saw ;  that  is 
not  my  purpose  now.  I  must  leave  all 
these  intervening  years  for  another  time  ; 
must  skip  them,  in  fact,  and  come  back 
again  to  show  you  my  Judy  as  she  ap- 
peared to  me  after  eight  years  had  passed, 
and  she  was  a  woman  grown. 

Before  I  had  time  to  go  in  search  of  her, 
as  I  was  walking  in  a  pleasant  avenue 
that  made  the  city  houses  seem  like  coun- 


126  JIMMY  DON. 

try,  I  heard  such  an  eager,  glad  cry, — 
"  Miss  Karlen  !  Miss  Karlen  !  "  and  who 
do  you  think  it  was  ?  Why,  nobody  but 
Jake ;  tall  and  handsome,  with  a  broad 
open  forehead,  which  showed  a  frank,  pure 
nature,  and  clear,  earnest  eyes  into  which 
one  loved  to  look.  He  was  coming  down 
the  gravel  walk  from  a  cosey  cottage 
home,  and  who  should  be  close  beside  him 
but  my  Judy,  with  her  great,  brown  curls 
tossing  in  the  breeze,  and  in  her  arms 
the  brightest,  prettiest  little  fellow,  six 
months  old.  Grandmamma  Turner  was 
close  behind  them,  and  their  joy  at  seeing 
me  was  excessive.  I  went  to  sit  with  them 
in  the  rose-covered  porch  of  the  cottage, 
to  learn  all  about  this  great  transformation. 
I  stared  for  a  minute  with  wondering 
eyes.  "I  am  sure  of  you  three,"  I  said. 


JUDY  A    WOMAN.  127 

"Mrs.  Turner,  and  Judy  and  Jake,  but" 
—  touching  the  little  fat  lump  in  my  pet's 
arms,  —  "  who  in  the  world  is  this  ? " 

".Who  in  the  world  could  it  be,"  said 
grandmamma  proudly,  "but  Jake's  and 
Judy's  baby  ? " 

I  was  not  a  bit  sorry  that  every  thing 
had  turned  out  just  as  it  did,  for  I  knew 
that  Jake  was  as  good  a  young  fellow  as 
one  would  wish  to  see  ;  and  as  for  my  lit- 
tle girl,  she  had  not  her  equal  any  where, 
and  they  were  all  so  thrifty  and  so  happy ! 
God  had  been  with  them  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  had  led  them  to  pleasant  places. 
It  was  so  gracious  and  good  of  him  ! 

I  was  not  content  till  I  had  the  UMle 
white  dumpling  in  my  arms,  tossing  him 
and  playing  with  him,  and  feasting  on  his 
rosy,  dimpled  cheeks. 


128  JIMMY  DON. 

"  And  what  have  you  named  him  ? "  I 
asked,  giving  him  one  more  leap  in  the 
air,  and  bringing  him  down  to  rest  on  my 
knee  ;  and  I  was  not  at  all  surprised  to 
hear  Judy  say,  — "  We  call  the  little  fel- 
low '  Jimmy  Don.' " 

I  liked  that ;  it  showed  a  strong,  earn- 
est, loving  nature  that  clings  to  the  utter- 
most. And  they  all  seemed  pleased  be- 
cause I  was  pleased,  and  Judy  led  me  into 
the  house  and  showed  me  all  the  comfort 
and  beauty  within.  There  was  a  tiny 
greenhouse,  with  a  little  fountain  gur- 
gling, and  every  thing  was  pretty. 

But  what  amused  and  delighted  me 
most  of  all,  was  the  little,  old,  willow  cra- 
dle, with  Rosa  and  the  demijohn  hugged 
up  under  the  patchwork  quilt,  as  they 
used  to  be  in  the  long,  long  ago. 

THE    END. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last 
date  stamped  below 


5m-6,'41(3644) 


N  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


